HOME MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE FROM ELECTRONIC ARTS
Ifyou
Cut a Pasta.
can learn to use this word processor
in 90 seconds, can it really be any good?
CUT & PASTE™ displays its commands on a single line at the bottom of the screen. This
makes working with it easier and also gives you more usable space on the screen.
Of all word processors on the
market today, Cut & Paste may
well be the easiest to use. In
fact, by the time you finish reading this
section of the ad, you'll know how
to work with Cut ck Paste. So read on.
START TYPING. Working with Cut
ck Paste is like working with a type-
writer. If you know how to use a type-
writer, you already know how to type
in your draft with Cut ck Paste. The
only real difference is, with Cut &
Paste it's easier to correct typos.
MAKING CHANGES. Let's say
you've decided to make a cut in your
rough draft. To do this you put the
cursor (the bright block) at the start
of the text you want to delete, and
stretch it through to the end of your
cut. Then you send the cursor down to
the "CUT" command on the bottom
of the screen. Done.
If, on the other hand, you want
to keep that line, but put it in a differ-
ent part of your draft, you use the
"PASTE" command. You mark the
point of insert with the cursor. Then
you put the cursor over "PASTE."
That's all there is to it.
PRINTING IT OUT. When you
like the way your work looks, you print
it. Put the cursor on the "PRINT"
command. Then set your margins, in
inches. That's it.
You now know how to use Cut
ck Paste.
OKAY, IT'S SIMPLE. BUT HOW
GOOD IS IT? Cut & Paste has all
the features you'll ever need to use
at home. Here are a few of them:
1. Scrolling dynamic menus
2. Automatic word wrap
3. Simple cut ck paste editing
4- Block indenting
5. Set margins and paper size in
inches
6. Tabs
7. Automatic page numbering
8. Controllable page breaks
9. Headings
10. Scrolling text windows
11. Automatic widow and orphan
control
12. Clear and concise manual
In other words, Cut ck Paste
will do just about everything other
word processors do. But Cut ck Paste
will do it more easily. Without com-
plex commands and modes.
If you think about a word proc-
essor in terms of what it replaces (type-
writers, pens and paper, files), Cut &
Paste begins to look very good indeed.
And when you consider that all this
power can be had for approximately
$50, we think you'll see why we believe
Cut ck Paste is something of an
achievement.
A PHILOSOPHY OF DESIGN.
The people who designed, devel-
oped and programmed Cut ck Paste
have some fairly heavy credentials.
They are people who worked on
the internationally-famous user inter-
face designs that led to the Xerox Star*
and Apple's Lisa8 They are also
THE CHANGING OF THE GUARD. Until quite recently we used pens and paper
and typewriters to write with, mostly because we knew how to use them. They have been good
tools, but limited. You tend to make messes when you work with them, and getting rid of those
messes makes extra work. Cut & Paste is an inexpensive and practical alternative. Because it is as
easy to use as a typewriter, you really will use it. Which may make it the first sensible word processor
for the home. Thus an alleged labor-saving device has come to a position where it really can save a
significant amount of labor, i.e., yours.
THE MEN WHO MADE CUT &
PASTE. The Linotype machine pictured here
was the 19th century's most important contri-
bution to word processing technology. It let
typesetters compose and rearrange text in the
form of metal castings. The importance of Cut
& Paste, of course, must await the judgment
of history. Nevertheless, the seven men who de-
veloped it look confident here. Standing left to
right, they are-. Norm Lane, Steve Shaw, David
Maynard, Dan Silva, Steve Hayes and ferry
Morrison. Seated at the console is Tim Mott,
whose idea this was in the first place.
people who have in common a very
lucid philosophy of design.
Computers and the programs they
run are tools, they believe. Tools are
never noticed unless they are bad tools.
When they're good, they become, in
effect, invisible. And if you want to
make a good tool— an invisible tool—
you'd best study the way people use
the tools they already have.
As a result of this thinking, Cut ck
Paste was designed to work much in
the same way that you already work
with a typewriter or with pen and
paper. The most complex and power-
ful parts of the program are hidden
from view. The work they do takes
place deep in the machine. All you get
to see are the results.
But beyond that, there is something
almost indefinable about a good de-
sign.Things about it just seem to work
crisply. Little touches and features
that you notice make you want to smile.
If it's really good,
it feels good.
Cut & Paste
feels good. Electronic Arts
THE PRODUCTS of Electronic Arts can
be found in your favorite computer stores, soft-
ware centers, and in leading department stores
throughout the country. Both Cut & Paste
and Financial Cookbook are now available
at a suggested retail price of $50 for the Apple
lie and the Commodore 64 and will soon be
available for the IBM -PC and Atari .
OUR COMMITMENT TO
HOME MANAGEMENT.
Cut &. Paste is just one of a growing
number of products we're publishing
within the category of "home manage-
ment software." These products are all
built around the same program archi-
tecture, making them all equally "friend-
ly," as well as remarkably straightfor-
ward and practical. We believe that
designs like these will soon make home
computers as functional and efficient as
today's basic appliances.
Our next product in this line is called
Financial Cookbook. It's a realistic alterna-
tive to the complex, pre-programmed fi-
nancial calculators we all wish we knew
how to use. With a few, simple keystrokes,
Financial Cookbook lets you make more
than 30 key time-value-of-money
computations— just about all the ones
you'd ever use for personal finances—
like calculating
mortgages with
changing inter-
est rates, com-
pounding the
interest on IRA
and savings ac-
counts, and buy-
versus - lease
comparisons for
automobile pur-
chases.
To find out more about these home
management products and about what
we have planned for the future, call or
write: Electronic Arts, 2755 Campus
Drive, San Mateo, CA 94403 (415)
571-7171.
Apple and Lisa are registered trademarks of Apple Computer, Jnc. Star is a registered trademark of the Xerox Corporation. Commodore 64 is a registered trademark of Commodore Business Machines, Inc. PC is a registered
trademark of International Business Machines, Jnc Atari is a registered trademark of Atari, Inc., a Warner Communications company.
Softly Comment
Softalk takes the stand with opinion
and commentary: the confusing
state of computer talk, in praise of
DOS, simplifying dBase II,
overworked computerholics, priming
your original computer
28
Exec Apple Computer International:
Chez Paris
Mike Spindler, Henri Aebischer, Bob
Kissach, and a lively group of
Europeans prove Apple can have a
foreign affair.
DAVID HUNTER 40
The Elfin lie: Light, Tiny, and Sweet
The new Apple He is portable
paradise. Here 's an introductory
look at the (c)ompact II, plus the
inside story of the He's European
introduction.
MARGOT COMSTOCK
TOMMERVIK 56
Special Section: Apples All
Over the World 100
Apples Down Under
JOHN MACGIBBON
102
DEPARTMENTS
Advertiser's Index Opposite Page
Debut: The Basic Solution, by Roger Wagner
The Earl of Assembly becomes Lord of Basic 79
Beginners' Corner, by Matt Yuen
Computers and education 69
Bestsellers 201
Contest: Gravy-Boat Diplomacy
Reseat fussy professors at a dinner party 4
Contest Winners
Results of February 's Phonies contest 6
DOStalk, by Tom Weishaar
Inside look at text files with type 1 64
Fastalk
A quick guide to new and classic releases 1 85
Follow the Floating Point, by David Durkee
Introduction to hi-res graphics 1 40
Keys to the World, by Matt Yuen
Telecommuting: working on a phone line 1 69
Mac 'n' Lisa, by Kevin Goldstein
Junking Jr., more on modems, Mac books 151
Marketalk News
Announcing new products and services 91
Marketalk Reviews 129
Mind Your Business, by Peter Olivieri
Selecting a modem, business graphics, III stuff 51
Open Discussion
Blossoming letters: questions, answers, opinions 11
The Pascal Path, by Jim Merritt
Pointers about pointers 61
Schoolhouse Apple, by Carol Ray
Telelearning 's Electronic University,
and a Logo tutorial by Donna Bearden 83
SoftCard Symposium, by Greg Tibbetts
BDOS's file-related disk functions 153
Tradetalk
Industry news: West Coast Faire report 72
Personal Computing in the Old
World
DAVID HUNTER 110
Apples in Germany
EDEN RECOR .
Apples in Tunisia
ANDREW CHRISTIE
Apples in Canada
DON OFFICER ....
116
120
124
Selling Software from
Sicily to Sydney
Separating the anomaly from the
product: marketing software
overseas put in perspective.
GARY CARLSTON
144
Newspeak
Computers are making the world
smaller: Paris-based World
Computer Center, high-flying satel-
lite rescue system, high-tech sushi
shops.
Edited by DAVID HUNTER
175
M E V I L W S
Jumpin' June Flash . . . Exec Sweet
Micro Systems . . . Apple-Controlled
Windmills in Altamont Pass . . . Racing
Catamarans . . . and more! ...
i n
A D V E
Abbee Systems 201
A B Computers 134
Accent Software 128
Action-Research
Northwest 96
Advanced Business
Computing 50
Alf Copy Service 188
Apple Computer 113
Applied Engineering ... 75
Artemis Systems 196
Artie Technologies 166
Atari 39
BASF 21
Baudville 16
Beagle Bros 148-149
Bluebush 66
Blue Ridge Software ...74
Borland International . . 62
The Boston Company . . 158
The Brady Communication
Company 115
Business Solutions 5
Central Valley
Electronics 194
Chemical Bank 37
Classified Ads 22-27
Computer Outlet 163
Computer Tax Service . . 52
Conroy-LaPointe 189
Continental Software . . 107
Counterpoint Software 204
Creative Computer
Peripherals 193
Creative Computer
Products 181
Davidson & Associates . . 87
Decision Support
Software 119
Deluxe Computer
Forms 20
Dennison Computer
Supplies 123
Digital Research .... 88-89
Diskazine 43
Electronic Arts . . Cover 2-1
ERIC Software
Publishing 191
Falcon Safety
Products 170
FMJ 156
FoggWare 155
Garden of Eden
Computers 192
Gourmet Software 162
Gray Matter Ltd 71
Hayes Microcomputer . 168
Hollister MicroSystems . 14
Howard Software 200
Howard W. Sams 90
Human Systems
Dynamics 198
Inmac 160
Insoft 183
Interactive Microware . 133
Interactive Structures . . 97
Jade Computer
Products 197
Kensington
Microware 127,143
Koala Technologies 7
The Learning Company . 82
Magnum Software 95
MECA 130
D
E X
T
O F
S E
Megahaus 47
Microcom 98-99
Microcomputer
Accessories 53
Micropro 78
Microsoft 48-49,63
MicroSPARC 205
MICRO-vision 178
Micro Ware 139
Midwest Data Source ... 84
The National Software
Exchange 186
Nibble Notch 67
Orange Micro 199
Origin Systems 195
Owlcat/Digital
Research 172-173
Sinequanon 180
Sir-tech Cover 3
SJB Distributors 86
Softalk 18,97,184,202
Softdisk 55
Softronics 138
Southern California
Research Group .... 150
Spectrum Software .... 132
Spies Laboratories 38
Spinnaker 8-9
Standard and Poor's ... 34
Stoneware 137
Strategic Simulations . . 177
Strictly Soft Ware 76
SubLogic 81
Sundex Software 18
On Our Cover: Among spring fashions and blos-
soms, Apples are part of the Parisian scene. The
French and a growing number of international
computerists are making the Apple a worldwide
phenomenon. Photo by David Hunter.
Pacific Exchanges 187
Penguin Software . . . 12-13
Personal Computer
Products 65
Practical
Peripherals . . . 45,60,203
Programs Plus 157
Psychological Psoftware 142
Quality Software 207
Quark 10
Quinsept 171
Rainbow Computing . . 182
Reston 15
Rising Sun Software . . . 147
Satori Software 54
Sensible Software 77
Shenandoah Software . 135
Sierra On-Line . . . Cover 4
Superior Software 19
Sweet Micro
Systems 108-109
Synetix 93
Terrapin 85
Texprint 152
Thunderware 17
Titan Data Systems 80
Turning Point
Software 174
Videx 131
Virtual Combinatics 68
Vufax 136
Roger Wagner
Publishing 206
John Wiley & Sons 46
Xerox Education
Publications 31,33
4
Chairman
John Haller
Publisher
Al Tommervik
Editor
Margot Comstock Tommervik
Art Director
Kurt A Wahlner
Editorial
Senior Edit) if
David Hunter
Managing Editor
Three Tyler
Assislanl Mjnjjiin^ Eulitor
Carol Ray
Associate Editors
Jean Varven
David Durkec
Reviews, Telecom
Matthew T Yuen
Special Assignments
Andrew Christie
Features, News, Trade
Michael Ferris
If, Then. Maybe
Tommy Gear
Hardware
Jock Root
Letters
Todd Zilbert
Regional Editor, East Coast
Roe Adams
Market Research
Lanny Broyles
Copy
Cordell Cooper
Judith Pfeffcr
Subinissu >ns
Betsv Barnes
Proofreading
Harry McNeil
Judith Pfeffer
Steve Thomsen
Ron Williams
Word Processing
Brcnda Johnson
Contributing Editors
Pascal
Jim Merriti
Business
Peter Ohvien
Apple CP/M
Cireg FibbcttS
Investing
Kenneth Land is
DOS
Tom Weishaar
Graphics
Bill Budge
Printers
Bill Parker
32 Bits
Kevin Goldstein
Softalk Suites
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Art
Production Manager
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Assistant Art Director
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Assistants
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Associate Publisher
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Credits: Composition by Photographies, Hollywood, California
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Apple, Applesoft. Macintosh, and Lisa are registered trademarks of
Apple Computer Inc., Cupertino. California UCSD Pascal is a
trademark of the University of California at San Diego SoftCard is a
trademark of Microsoft, Bellevue, Washington Sofialk is a trademark
of Softalk Publishing Inc.. North Hollywood. California.
Softalk. Volume 4, Number 9. Copyright © 1984 by Softalk
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CONTEST:
Gravy- Boat
Diplomacy
Have you been yearning to get out of the
house and see the world? Well, here's the
chance of a lifetime — we're giving you an am-
bassadorial post! Congratulations, and may you
serve your country well. As of today, you are
the ambassador to Albania. Your first official
duty is hosting a dinner party for the faculty of
the International Academy of Computer Arts
and Sciences, which convenes in Albania for
two weeks each May.
An hour before the guests arrive, your aide
confesses that he has lost the seating arrange-
ments for the evening. Fine, you say, just seat
them boy-girl-boy -girl. Your aide pales and
tells you that it isn't that easy— you have to con-
sider protocol. First, many faculty members are
bringing their spouses, and protocol says that no
one may sit across from his or her spouse. Sec-
ond, to facilitate conversation, each person
must sit across the table from a person who
knows a common human spoken language. And
third, no man may sit next to another man.
You must reseat the guests. The table is rec-
tangular, there are sixteen places, and no one
sits at the head or the foot. Also, the four per-
sons sitting at the ends can be considered to sit
next to only one person. The protocol and the
information you have from the dossier on each
guest are your only means to make arrange-
ments that will keep each guest happy.
The Professor from Albania
The Professor from Brazil
The Professor from Czechoslovakia
The Professor from Egypt
The Professor from Finland
The Professor from France
The Professor from Germany
The Professor from Mexico
The Professor from Nepal
The Professor from Portugal
They all will attend. Seven of the professors
will be accompanied by their spouses. Including
yourself, sixteen people will attend.
You have a bit more information in the dos-
siers in your diplomatic pouch. You know that
each person knows the language of his or her
native country. You also know that each person
knows the same language as his or her spouse.
Each of the professors is of the same nationality
as his or her spouse, except for two.
For security reasons, you must sit between
the professors of Czechoslovakia and Finland.
The professor of Floating Point Basic will
not sit next to or across from the professor of
Integer Basic. The professor of Pascal will not
sit next to or across from either of them.
The spouse of the professor from France is
jealous and must sit next to the professor — and
furthermore will not let the professor sit across
from a person of the opposite sex.
The spouse of the professor from Brazil and
the spouse of the professor from Albania are
best friends and like to sit across from one an-
other.
Four professors do not know Albanian.
Four spouses do not know Albanian.
The professor from Portugal knows Italian.
The professors of Assembly Language,
The new breed of integrated software that's Jack2.
(Press SPACEBAR to continue, R to replay, )|
Sales Commission Statement for September
Dear Ralphj
Your sales for this period were
$1821 as shown below. Based on your
fine performance I am pleased to
make you a member of the President's
club.
Sales - A
Sales - B
Total
YTD
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
134
112
245
243
43
45
120
79
177
157
365
322
177
334
699
1621
Jun Jul Aug Sep
Commission Calculation:
Sy. items: 5185
iy. bonus: 1821
Total: $ 6126
JACK2.THE BEST PC INTEGRATED SOFTWARE
YOU CAN FIND. NOW YOURS ON THE APPLE lie.
With JACK2, you can do word processing, spread-
sheets, data base management, charting. All at the
same time. On the same screen. Without changing
diskettes or exiting programs.
And, you can print out what's on your
screen - text, calculations, and graphs - on
the same page. What you see is what you get!
No need for windows. Additional monitors
or hardware of any kind. No need to close one
file before you open another. JACK2 is as
easy to master as it is powerful to use.
Picture a screen that graphically
displays your disks and names them.
With envelope icons that can be
scrolled up or down from 1 to 50
showing you all your files. JACK2
will even show you the forms
inside your envelopes. And then let you choose the
one you're looking for simply by pointing to it. All
commands are in English. All are displayed on
a single line and all have the same function
throughout JACK2.
So, if you've been searching for a new
breed of integrated software, you've found
it. From word processing, to spreadsheets,
to data base management and charting only
JACK2 will let you do everything you've
always wanted to do. On the same _____
screen. At the same time.
JACK2 is available for the Apple
He with extended memory,
80-column card (total of 128k)
and two Apple disk drives.
Jack2
Business Solutions, inc.
J 60 East Main Street, KingsPark, NY 11754 -(516) 269-1120
6
Microcomputing, Fortran, and Robotics are
women.
The professor of Floating Point Basic knows
English.
The professor of Robotics knows French.
The professor of Assembly Language is the
only professor who knows Spanish.
The professor of Logo sits across from the
spouse of the professor from Finland.
You know only English, and you are the
only person who knows only one language.
Only two people know more than two
languages.
The professor from Nepal prefers to sit be-
tween the spouse of the professor from Finland
and the spouse of the professor from Mexico.
The professor from Egypt is married and
likes to sit next to his spouse, who likes to sit
across from the professor of Fortran.
As the ambassador, you must sit on the right
side of the table.
The professor from Czechoslovakia knows
neither English nor Albanian.
Four of the conversations across the table
will be carried out in Albanian.
None of the conversations across the table
will be carried out in German or Arabic.
The professor from Germany knows Arabic.
February's Phonies contest was one that
should have satisfied all those contest fanatics
who have been crying, "Harder contests!" for
the past few months.
Everybody solved some of the puzzles, most
contestants solved most of them, and a few got
them all correct. From the few perfect entries
arose one entry screaming, "Hey, I wanna win,
I wanna win!" The sight of a piece of paper
screaming like a lunatic caused everyone in
the room to run away, thinking the building
was haunted. When they came back, one in-
trepid staff member picked up the entry, which
was hopping around the room, beating up the
other entries.
It belonged to Terry Treadaway (Marshall,
AR), who still hasn't decided what he'll spend
$200 on. "We just finished doing our Navajo
celebration dance, and we're fighting over what
to get." Treadaway was last reported to be eye-
ing New York City to see if it's on sale, but
he'll probably settle for Hayden's Sargon III,
Micro Fun's Dino Eggs, some Strategic Simula-
tions games, and a Sweet Micro Systems Mock-
ingboard, which he'll pick up at Computers Etc.
in Little Rock.
Paul Lennon and John McCartney. Al-
most everyone was able to figure out whose
phone numbers were listed in the first part.
However, 532-5464 caused a problem. It was
amazing how many people figured out that the
number spelled (Zork coauthor) Lebling but
tacked on the first names of Marc and Mark in-
stead of Dave. Neither Marc Lebling nor Dave
Blank could be reached for comment. The only
person who could be reached was Steve Woz-
niak, who had this to say about people who
often get his and Steve Jobs's first names mixed
up: "I never really noticed it before, but now
it's got me steamed."
Hmn] i
The professor of one of the Basics is from
France.
The professor of Cobol knows German and
Albanian and is a married man.
The professor of Pascal knows Portuguese.
The professor of Logo, the professor of For-
tran, and the professor of Microcomputing all
know Albanian.
The professor of Microcomputing knows
German.
The professor of Artificial Intelligence is a
widower and knows Italian.
The professor of Integer Basic is from
Finland.
No one who knows French knows Albanian,
and no one who knows French will sit next to
anyone who knows Portuguese.
Decide where your guests are to be seated,
their gender, in what language they will con-
verse with the person across from them, and the
discipline of each professor. Then write it all
down and send it to Embassytalk, Box 7039,
North Hollywood, CA 91605. Those who get it
all correct will advance to the most diplomatic
random number generator for a shot (heard
'round the world) at prizes befitting their sta-
tion. And pass the peas. m
The real confusion began when contestants
moved on to part two. Some took the liberty of
changing T.G. Products founder Ted Gillam's
last name to fit their answers: 445-5426 (Gil-
liam), 445-5267 (Gillams), and 445-5486 (Gil-
lium). Of course, the correct answer was none
of these.
There was the anonymous phone caller, who
called Softalk one March afternoon. Here's
what happened:
"Hello?"
"Uh, yeah . . . um, am I on the air?"
"This is a magazine, not a radio station."
"Oh. Oh yeah, right. Um, I had a question
about the contest."
"Okay."
"What's so hard about part one? Can't I just
call up those numbers and see who answers?"
"You could."
"So what's so hard about it?"
"What area code are you going to use?"
Pause
"Oh."
"Uh-huh."
"Bye."
"Bye."
Intelligently, the caller remained anonymous.
More people put a big fat zero in answer to
number ten on part two, which asked for the
number to call the operator. Cute. Really cute.
In fact, the contest staff just couldn't resist all
that cuteness going on at once, so they decided
to allow it as a correct answer, in addition to
846-3267 (Timecor), the actual answer.
Yes, Virginia, there is a Synoptic Software.
Yes, it is a real company. No, it wasn't a trick.
Doesn't anyone remember a program called
Ana-Lisfi It was reviewed in November 1983. It
appeared in the Softalk reviews index in Feb-
ruary 1984— the issue the contest appeared in—
MAY 1984
on page 215. Shame on everybody who wrote
and said that there's no such thing as Synoptic.
Contest InvisiPrize of the Month goes to
Dawne E. Holtz (Izmir, Turkey), whose perfect
contest entry was created under less than perfect
circumstances. "Phones are a rarity here in
Turkey. But if I win, I'd like dinner with Bert
Kersey at a restaurant of my choice in my city
of residence."
Dear Contestmeister. And now, the con-
testmeister answers some letters.
To Jim Taylor (Orem, UT): Don't worry,
we accepted your entry, even though it was a
day late. But please tell your wife that the next
time she has a craving for Kentucky Fried
Chicken she had better resist. Limbs of dead
chickens disgust us. If she feels that strongly
about eating birds, send her to get some
Chicken McNuggets, but only if she can name
the parts of a chicken that look like nuggets.
To Mamie Penning and Lisa Hollis (Talla-
hassee, FL): We're sorry you caught a cold
while working on this contest, Mamie. But
we're also very flattered that you preferred
reading Softalk to visiting the Smithsonian, the
White House, and the Capitol Building while
you were vacationing in Washington. Thank
you, Lisa, for warning us about Mamie, the fat
moose, and the elephant. (Readers can interpret
the last sentence as they wish.)
To Donna Harris (Tulsa, OK): Sorry you
didn't win. Tell your husband that you did, and
let him pick out a prize. Let him pay for it, too.
To Bunny Hottenstein (Hershey, PA): No,
even though you live in Chocolatetown, and
even though it was so close to Easter, it
wouldn't have helped you win if you'd changed
your name to //oppenstein.
The Real Phonies. Here are the answers to
the first part of the Phonies contest.
796-3849, Synetix
274-8474, (Lord) British
532-5464, (Dave) Lebling
736-4846, Penguin (Software)
747-8324, Sir-tech (Software)
728-5539, (John) Sculley
746-3649, Phoenix (Software)
468-7638, Gourmet (Software)
463-6266, Infocom
227-7439, (Jack) Cassidy
278-9425, (Bruce) Artwick
Here are the answers to the second part.
Bill Budge: 746-2255 (pinball) or 283-4326
(BudgeCo)
Einstein: 266-7453 (compile, Einstein
Compiler), 466-3769 (Goodrow,
coauthor of Einstein Compiler), or
872-4637 (trainer, Einstein Memory
Trainer).
T.G. Products: 723-3537 (paddles)
Synoptic Software: 262-5478 {Ana-List)
Software Publishing Corporation: 737-3453
(PFS: File)
Data Transforms: 366-8719 (Fontrix)
John Besnard: 736-7283 (Pensate)
Bert Kersey: 367-2677 (DOS Boss),
884-5489 (utility), 847-3475 (Tip Disk)
Michael Berlyn: 463-4335 (Infidel),
668-6767 (Oo-Topos)
Operator: 846-3267 (Timecor, which
manufactures the Operator modem), 0
(operator) Hi
CONTEST WINNERS
Now. . . Draw On Your Imagination
Introducing The Gibson Light Pen System™
The link between mind and machine has arrived. Suddenly you're f ree. . .free
to translate your every thought into professional quality computer graphics...
just by touching your screen.
The Gibson Light Pen System software features icon menus that offer easy
access to powerful graphics tools such as symbol libraries, geometric shapes,
mirror-imaging, magnification and complete color and pattern editing. Even
if you're not a graphic artist, you can design, diagram and draw with precision
at high-speed, in high-resolution, and in full-color. . . right on your screen.
COMPLETE WITH FIVE SOFTWARE SYSTEMS TO MAXIMIZE
YOUR CREATIVE OPTIONS.
The Gibson Light Pen System comes complete with all you need to draw,
paint, design, score music and learn animation.
DRAW FREEHAND WITH PENPAINTER™
A full range of drawing tools, shapes, patterns and colors to draw or paint
virtually anything on your screen.
DESIGN PRECISION DIAGRAMS WITH PENDESIGNER."
Turn your computer into your own graphic design studio. A complete selection
of templates make perfect business and architectural diagrams, technical
drawings and engineering schematics a snap.
CREATE COMPUTERIZED ANIMATION WITH PENANIMATOR™
All that you need to learn the basics of animation. Develop your own animation
sequences, and bring your screen to life.
COMPOSE MUSIC WITH PENMUSICIAN™
Score computerized melodies with incredible ease at the touch of your pen.
CREATE YOUR OWN LIGHT PEN APPLICATIONS WITH THE PENTRAK
LANGUAGE SYSTEMS
Take advantage of the software features, and customize your own light pen
programs.
NOW AVAILABLE FOR THE APPLE II SERIES
Coming soon for the IBM PC * and PCjr. "
m m
Koala Technologies
800-KOA-BEAR
The Gibson Light Pen System
Touch the Magic of Light
¥
VE LIKE MOST
BUY A SINGLE
YOU'LL BUY LOTS OF SPINNAKER GAMES.
And not just because they're educational, but also because they happen
to be a lot of fun to play
In fact, they're so much fun, parents have been known to sneak in a
few hours of play when the kids are asleep.
After all, if your kids are actually enjoying a learning game, there must
be something to it. And there is: Fun, excitement and real educational
value. That's what sets Spinnaker games apart from all the rest. And
what brings parents back for more.
We offer a wide range of learning games for a wide range of age groups:
3 to 14. One look at these two pages will show you how we carefully
designed our line of learning games to grow right along with your child.
So if you're looking for a line of learning games that are as much fun to
play as they are to buy, consider Spinnaker Games. They're compatible
with Apple. Atari, IBM PC, PCjr, Commodore 64, Coleco Adam and parents
who don't mind their kids having fun while they learn.
It s new! GRANDMA'S HOUSE™
is a magical playhouse.
Ages 4 to 8.
GRANDMA'S HOUSE is a very
special place for your kids, because
they can furnish it with lots of won-
derful and unusual things from
the magical places they'll visit.
GRANDMA'S HOUSE provides
children with an imaginative way
to exercise their creativity as they
design their own perfect play-
house. You'll love watching your
kids have fun with GRANDMA'S
HOUSE— you can even join in and
play it with them!
It's new! KIDWRITER™ lets kids
make their own storybook.
Ages 6 to 10.
KIDWRITER gives children a
unique new format for creating
their own stories. With KIDWRITER,
kids make colorful scenes, then
add their own story lines, it's as
versatile and exciting as your
child's imagination!
Best of all, while it encourages
children to create word and pic-
ture stories, it also introduces
them to the fundamentals of
word processing. KIDWRITER
will bring out the storyteller in
your children— and in you!
Apple and Atari are registered trademarks of Apple Computer. Inc. and Atari. Inc respectively. IBM PC and PCjr. Commodore 64 and Coleco Adam are trademarks of International Business Machines Corp . Commodore
Electronics Ltd and Coleco Industries respectively ©1984 . Spinnaker Software Corp All rights reserved.
PARENTS, YOU WON'T
SPINNAKER GAME.
SPffY/Wf/Sff
FRACTION FEVER™ brings
fractions into play.
Ages 7 to Adult.
FRACTION FEVER is a fast-paced
arcade game that challenges a
child's understanding of fractions.
As kids race across the screen in
search of the assigned fraction,
they're actually learning what a
fraction is and about relationships
between fractions.
All in all, FRACTION FEVER
encourages kids to learn as much
as they can about fractions— just
for the fun of it!
KINDERCOMP.™ Numbers, shapes,
letters, words and drawings
make fun.
Ages 3 to 8.
KINDERCOMP allows very young
children to start learning on the
computer. It lets your children
match shapes and letters, write
their names, draw pictures and
fill in missing numbers. KINDER-
COMP delights kids with colorful
rewards— the screen comes to life
when correct answers are given.
As a parent, you can enjoy the
fact that your children are having
fun while improving their reading
readiness and counting skills.
PACEMAKER™ makes faces fun.
Ages 3 to 8.
PACEMAKER lets children
create their own funny faces on
the screen, then make them do
all kinds of neat things: wink,
smile, wiggle their ears, and more.
Plus, PACEMAKER helps famil-
iarize children with such com-
puter fundamentals as menus,
cursors, simple programs, and
graphics. PACEMAKER won't
make parents frown because their
children will have fun making
friends with the computer.
We make learning fun.
Disks for: Apple. Atari. IBM PC and PCjr. Commodore 64
Cartridges for: Atari. IBM PCjr. Commodore 64. Coleco Adam.
Now you can have the power of Quark's Word Juggler word ^
processor. And the convenience of the Lexicheck spelling checker,
with its 50,000 word dictionary and special Word Guess Plus ™
feature. All in one package. For virtually half the price.
The new suggested retail for Word Juggler He is only $189.
Word Juggler for the Apple III and III Plus is only $229*.
Ask for a demonstration today. For the name of the Quark
dealer nearest you, call 1 (800) 543-771 1. And be sure you look into
Quark's other popular office automation tools for the Apple He,
Apple III and Apple III Plus. Especially the Catalyst™ program
selector.
♦Previous list prices: Word Juggler He, $239; Lexicheck lie, $129; Word Juggler
for the Apple III, $295; Lexicheck for the Apple III, $149. All prices suggested
U.S. retail.
Quark, Word Juggler, Lexicheck, Word Guess Plus and Catalyst are
trademarks of Quark Incorporated. Apple is a registered trademark
of Apple Computer, Inc.
Quark
Hi^Hm INCORPORATED
Office Automation Tools
2525 West Evans, Suite 220
Denver CO 80219
MAY 1984
OPEN
Open Discussion gives you the chance to air your
views and concerns, to seek answers to questions, to
offer solutions or helpful suggestions , and to develop
a rapport with other readers. It 's what you make it, so
share your thoughts, typed or printed, and double-
spaced (please), in Softalk '.y Open Discussion, Box
7039, North Hollywood, CA 91605. To ensure the in-
clusion of as many contributions as possible, letters
may be condensed and edited.
Kan Ya Ketch Quark? Alaska
I would like to express my appreciation to Quark
for their conscientious attention to customer serv-
ice. We purchased Catalyst from Quark some time
ago for use on our Apple III with a ProFile hard
disk. We experienced a few minor problems,
mostly due to misinterpretation of the instructions
in the manual. Each time I wrote to Quark they
called me back almost immediately to respond to
my questions. I've worked with many companies
and I know what it's like to deal with one that
doesn't place great importance on user support. It
is no fun to be on the telephone trail for weeks at a
time in an attempt to get a problem solved. Happi-
ly for us, Quark makes fine products and supports
them extremely well.
Michael Youngblood, Ketchikan, AK
More Than Routine
I have obtained much valuable information from
reading Open Discussion, and so I would like to
pass on to others the favorable experience I've had
in dealing with Roger Wagner Publishing (nee
Southwestern Data Systems). I purchased
their A.C.E. editor and Routine Machine, and I
couldn't be more pleased with both purchases. The
editor is a marvelous time-saver that eliminates the
tedious task of editing, and it incorporates a most
convenient renumber utility. Routine Machine in-
corporates more than thirty fast, easy-to-use rou-
tines including an incredibly fast sort. As a begin-
ning programmer, I had many questions and the
people at Roger Wagner Publishing were most pa-
tient with me. One of their people even wrote a
separate routine for me to accomplish a specific
task. What more could a firm supply in the way of
support?
Arthur J. Mier, Grand Rapids, MI
Mountaineering
I have a CPS Multifunction Card by Mountain
Computer. It went down shortly after I purchased
it. I called Mountain Computer and they tried to
help me by phone, but to no avail. So I returned
the card to them for repair. Approximately ten
days later it was back and ready to go. Wouldn't it
be nice if all companies were this cooperative and
this prompt when handling our problems?
Joe K. Evans, Roanoke, VA
Apple Sanity Preserves
I'd like to alert Apple II Plus owners to a potential
problem with graphics printers and certain graph-
ics software. I'd also like to publicly acknowledge
some friendly technical support. As I understand
it, certain modifications were made to Apple II
Plus systems manufactured in the second half of
1982 under the direction of the FCC. The purpose
of the modifications was to reduce radio-frequen-
cy interference generated by the systems. An un-
fortunate consequence of the change— which was
corrected in subsequent units, I am told— was the
introduction of significant noise on the line to the
printer. This causes problems with transmission of
graphics data to the printer. I have encountered the
smml
D I S ( U
problem with a graphics screen dump program,
Printographer, and with PFS.File.
The screen dump program bombed after one
line. After spending several hours trying to con-
figure the screen dump program properly, I con-
tacted the software manufacturers, Roger Wagner
Publishing. The people there were most willing to
help. I sent them several of my trial runs and con-
figurations, but nothing helped. Then, convinced
that my printer board was the culprit, I spoke with
a technical support person at Microtek, who didn't
have an answer either. I contacted my local Epson
dealer, who was also unable to help me. Frustrated
but undaunted, I reached Epson's technical sup-
port group. Within five minutes they recognized
the fault and explained how it should be fixed. Fol-
lowing this, I called Microtek again. Armed with
the- information from Epson, this time I received a
solution.
The problem was corrected by a 220-picofarad
capacitor soldered across my printer interface
card. The screen dump program works like a
charm. I want to publicly thank Epson and
Microtek for their help in preserving my sanity
and reassuring me about my Apple II Plus.
Michael Gornish, Saint Louis, MO
No Surprises, Please
I love Super-Text for all word processing. After a
year of heavy use, I still keep discovering things it
will do. Why couldn't I see right away that its
global search and autolink is the only way to file
letters? That certain features can bring up a fill-in
form for all my letter writing? That the lines are
being counted as I write?
Maybe the personal computer industry has ful-
filled its obligations with hardware and software
manuals and tutorials, but I think the technical ex-
planations have taken precedence over explana-
tions of the tasks the hardware and software can
perform. There is almost no literature that will
help the user understand just what a computer can
do. I think there is a market for articles or booklets
describing what can be done with the better word
processing and listing programs. Or maybe the ad-
vertisement of such articles has escaped my notice.
Raymond A. Petrea, Winston-Salem, NC
Potholes on Money Street
Just how wonderful is Money Street? I feel there
are several deficiencies in this program. You are
limited to fifteen letters for the name of your fami-
ly or business (this is not appropriate for my
needs). An even more serious defect is that, al-
though 100 codes are available, the user is limited
to two-digit numbers. Many businesses number
their accounts using three- or four-digit numbers,
thereby making Money Street incompatible with
their usual numbering system.
My other complaints concern problems that are
less serious because you can work in spite of them.
There are more than a dozen reports available, but
for some reason, while some are available to either
screen or printer (which is good), some are
available only to the printer (which is dumb).
A last flaw in this program appears when you
enter data. Everything except the check number
defaults to the previous entry. So, for example, if
a check is written on May 1, 1984, to the XYZ
Company for twenty-five dollars, the next check is
also dated May 1 , 1984, and twenty-five dollars is
paid to the order of the XYZ Company until you
retype it. Except under unusual circumstances,
one does not write consecutive checks to the same
s \ i o ri
payee for the same amount on the same date. So,
although the program is fast, its defects should be
weighed carefully by the prospective user.
Selbert A. Chernila, Torrance, CA
A Peachy Combination
I would like to mention that I have found what I
consider the best program that I have seen since I
bought my Apple in 1978. It is a home financial
program called Time Is Money, by Turning Point
Software. It is extensive, complete, and fast.
I also went through five word processors and
then discovered the Peachtree combination of
Peachtext, Spelling Proofreader, Mailing List
Manager, and PeachCalc . They are marvelous!
There is nothing I can dream up that I would want
a word processor to do that this system doesn't.
D. Leppard, Morristown, NJ
General Flight Instructions
Reader Gary Suboter laments that he is not experi-
enced enough to fully enjoy the power of The
General Manager (February Open Discussion).
Rather, I suspect that it may be the poorly written
manual that is at fault. I bought the program after
reading a favorable review and several positive
letters in Softalk. The software is excellent, but the
documentation is very confusing. It's a shame
when a manual is bad enough to discourage users
from even trying the program, as I almost was.
But if poorly written manuals are bad, inaccurate
ones are worse. I've been using SubLogic's Flight
Simulator II for a month and have compiled an
ever-expanding list of features that don't work as
documented.
So, to potential buyers of The General Man-
ager, be wary of buying it until the manual says
what it does; as for Flight Simulator II, don't buy
it until it does what the manual says.
Franklin Tessler, Los Angeles, CA
Wrong-Minded Hordes
After reading about Apple's Macintosh— the cover
story in just about every February computer maga-
zine—I started examining my budget to see where
I could squeeze out the $2,495 needed to buy one.
Then I read that Apple was selling the Mac to col-
lege students for $1,000. Who in their right mind
would pay two and a half times as much as some-
one else for the same item? Has John Sculley
failed to learn anything from the Lisa pricing fias-
co? For myself, I think I will wait a year. By then,
the price of a Macintosh should have been cut in
half like the Lisa's— then I'll buy one.
Ralph Orrico, Coraopolis, PA
Big Bad Bang
Softalk has gone astray in its publication of The
Grand Unification of Physics, which appeared in
the March issue. I can't imagine that any signifi-
cant percentage of Softalk's readership knows (or
cares) about the issues being discussed in that arti-
cle. When I want to bring myself up to date on
grand unification theories, I do it by reading The
Physical Review, Reviews of Modem Physics, or
any of a number of other journals published by the
national and international scientific community.
When I want to learn about Modula-2, software or
hardware packages, or new products, I look for it
in Softalk. Please don't squander your limited
number of pages by publishing articles that are ad-
dressed to the wrong readership.
As for the technical merit of that article, it is a
second-party review of an unpublished manu-
Penguin Milestones
April 1981
1st Complete Graphics System is shipped.
September 1981
Complete Graphics System makes Sof talk's Top Thirty for the first time.
January 1982
1st Graphics Magician is shipped. Penguin Software is the first software producer to announce that all its current and
future applications software will be available on unprotected, copyable disks.
July 1982
All three software packages then being produced by Penguin Software: Complete Graphics System, Special Effects (now
part of Complete Graphics System), and Graphics Magician, appear in the Softalk Top Ten in their category, beginning
a many-month stretch in which all three remain there.
April 1983
Graphics Magician is voted the most popular utility of 1982 by the readers of Softalk, and the 19th most popular
program of all time. Special Effects also makes the Top Ten in its category, and Transylvania is voted one of the top
adventures of 1982. Meanwhile, Penguin announces an experiment in lowering the prices of recreational software. While
those original experimental prices have now been increased, Penguin's recreational software is still among the lowest
priced.
Fall /Winter 1983
Minit Man, The Coveted Mirror, and The Quest all appear in Softalk's Top Five in their monthly categories, with The
Quest making an appearance as the #1 adventure. Transylvania is awarded by Electronic Games magazine for graphics
and visual effects in a computer game.
Spring 1984
Of the five games released by Penguin Software since April 1983, four are voted by Softalk readers into the Top Ten in
their categories for 1983. They are The Coveted Mirror, Pensate, Minit Man, and The Quest. Graphics Magician is once
again voted 19th most popular program of all time. The Coveted Mirror also is voted by readers into the All-Time Top
Thirty. The Quest is named the best graphic adventure of 1983 by Computer Games magazine. A modernized, all-new
version of Complete Graphics System is shipped, having been in the works for well over a year. Penguin expands its
graphics software to include Paper Graphics, a graphics printing tool, and Transitions, a presentation tool.
Summer/ Fall 1984
Watch Us!
Home Applications. Fantasy Games. Double Hi-res Graphics. Educational Software.
The first games on the Macintosh. . . .
Thank you for making it possible!
We Don't Strive for State-of-the-Art. .
. . .We Define It.
The Complete Graphics System
This brand-new version of our non-programmers' graphics tools includes both best-selling
and highly rated products: The Complete Graphics System II and Special Effects,
combined into one easy-to-use package. All the command structures have been updated so
that selections are made directly by pointing at choices from a graphics screen, or options
are described on convenient help screens. This version is so advanced that users will
hardly need a manual at all, yet they'll have the most diverse and powerful set of graphic
capabilities readily at their fingertips. And we've combined all different versions into one
single package that works with joysticks, paddles, trackball, the Apple Graphics Tablet,
Apple Mouse, Houston Instruments' HiPad, and the Koala Pad. Priced at $79.95, it's sure
to remain the most-used graphics development tool for the Apple. & pen§J5JSS!'
The " |
Graphics
magician
i\ penguin software
The Graphics Magician
The new version of The Graphics Magician takes all the abilities of the original version,
adds to them, and simplifies their use for even the least technically-oriented programmers.
Animation and picture-drawing routines from this best-seller are being used in published
products from over two dozen companies, including the likes of Sierra On-Line, Sir-Tech,
Milton-Bradley, Mattel, Spinnaker, Adventure International, and many others. The big
news is that versions are now being released for Macintosh, Atari, IBM, and Commodore
personal computers, with graphics files transferable between computers. That means that a
programmer's graphics work on one computer no longer needs to be redone on other
computers . . . they can just be transferred with The Graphics Magician. Retail price is
$59.95 for the Apple.
Paper Graphics
Paper Graphics is a brand-new graphics screen-to-printer printing utility. As you would
expect from Penguin, it's the most advanced and easy-to-use of any such utility available
today. An advance, incomplete version has already received an A+ rating from Peelings
II, which called it "the most complete of the graphics-dump programs reviewed to date".
Besides being compatible with virtually every interface card /black and white printer
combination imaginable (we challenge you to find one that it won't work with), Paper
Graphics includes magnification, cropping, screen editing, labeling, framing, combination
dumps of both graphics screens, and the ability to pack and unpack pictures. At $49.95,
you shouldn't settle for less.
Transitions
Transitions is the most advanced graphics presentation system yet on microcomputers.
With it, you can easily create self-running or manually operated slide shows or
presentations by combining up to eight picture disks (packed or unpacked) and 44 different
transitions (screen wipes) between slides. Users can even see a graphic "catalog" of their
picture disks, consisting of miniature versions of the pictures on each disk presented on the
graphics screen. For a very professional-looking presentation, no other program will do.
Transitions retails for $49.95, and together with The Complete Graphics System and Paper
Graphics makes the most versatile set of graphics programs anyone could own for
their Apple computer.
Additional Typesets and Map Pack
Two add-ons are available for The Complete Graphics System, at $19.95 each. Additional
Type Sets contain over 50 extra typefaces that can be used with the text routines in CGS.
Map Pack contains over 100 hi-res maps already on packed graphics screens.
penguin software
TM
the graphics people
830 Fourth Avenue, P.O. Box 311, Geneva, IL 60134 (312) 232-1984
14
script, which is about as flimsy a contribution as
you can get. Guard our pages. Stick to subjects
you are competent to pass judgment on, and ones
that suit the purposes and desires of your reader-
ship.
Dick Smith, Pensacola, FL
Improving the Odds
Oops! We thought we had designed the perfect
parimutuel betting system for the Apple. The Odds-
maker takes bets, computes odds, payouts, and
betting totals, prints tickets, saves and restores
multiple betting events, and even takes a house
cut. Then Softalk pointed out in the March Mar-
ketalk Reviews that we hadn't gone the extra step;
while payouts were displayed for a one dollar bet,
we had left it up to the user to multiply the amount
of the winning bet by the payout for a one dollar
bet in order to come up with the actual payout.
Well, we went back and corrected the omis-
sion. The Oddsmaker now features a new screen
that instantly calculates the winning payout for any
amount bet. Our thanks to the folks at Softalk for
helping us improve our product.
John Zieg, CZ Software, South Yarmouth, MA
Apple's Teacher Polisher
Looking through the ads in Softalk over the past
few years, I have noticed an increase in the
amount of educational software being released for
the Apple. This is a step forward, but the tag "edu-
cational" is not always accurate. Friends of mine
have Spinnaker's Fraction Fever. Not only is the
game a graphic disappointment, but the pogo stick
is hard to control, making the game frustrating to
play. Moreover, the game does not really involve
factoring at all, just the mere identification of frac-
mm i
tions. Anyone young enough to learn anything
from this game would not be adept enough to con-
trol it.
I am using Fraction Fever as a mere symbol for
the useless educational software currently swamp-
ing the market. Sure, we can all play arcade games
and have fun, but an arcade game for young chil-
dren should not be dubbed "educational" simply
because it is geared for kids. It does not take much
to provide an amusing program that teaches the
material. I am sixteen; I learned factoring from a
Fortran program that gave an algebraic expression
in plain symbols and asked me to factor it. It then
provided a diagnosis of my mistakes. It was suc-
cessful because it provided a challenge and acted
as a teacher instead of a tester.
My three-and-a-half-year-old brother is learn-
ing how to read using a DEC VT-100 terminal
hooked up to a mainframe, which, for educational
purposes, is less sophisticated than an Apple II.
What is the expensive, graphically amazing pro-
gram that is teaching him the alphabet and how to
read? It is a ten-line program that makes the entire
alphabet scroll up the screen in big letters. Instead
of moving some unidentifiable figure around with
a joystick, he is learning how to type! My only
fear is that when asked to recite the alphabet, he
will say, "Q, W, E, R, T, Y. . . . "
Our educational system, which breeds illiter-
ates by failing to really teach kids before the age of
six and by failing to keep the early learners from
being bored, must be supplemented. A computer
is a great learning tool and the Apple's fine color
graphics give it great educational potential. Let's
not accept educational games that keep parents
busy wading through books of instructions and
that turn children off. Let's set children on the
right learning path from the start and provide them
with truly educational programs.
Jonathan Dubman, Chicago, IL
Erewhon Revisited
Now that we have heard from the experts in the
January Softalk ("Only A Day Away: Industry
Leaders Talk about Tomorrow"), it is time indus-
try leaders heard from users about what they want.
Software should be idiotproof and essentially bug-
free. A well-designed-and-constructed system
should be efficient and easy to build, test, install,
use, and maintain.
System documentation must be written so that
people without computer experience can under-
stand what to do. System developers are not the
best people to write documentation. Have a
secretary write it after he or she has struggled with
the system. Include detailed start-up, error recov-
ery, and shut-down instructions.
Some of the programs that I would like to have
require CP/M or Pascal. Why should it be neces-
sary to buy more equipment to use these products?
Systems should be aimed at specific problems, not
specific computers. Programs should be written in
C or some other language that can be compiled for
a variety of computers. Software should be avail-
able on disks of all sizes, usable in forty- or
eighty-column format, and compatible with a vari-
ety of operating systems. These steps will maxi-
mize the number of customers. We also need to be
able to upgrade to faster speeds and to obtain im-
proved software in ROM without buying a whole
new computer.
When advertising a product, please be honest.
Tell us exactly what problems the product ad-
dresses. Don't hint at things that cannot be ac-
complished. The warranty should be an honest
one, not the legalese we now get. If I buy a soft-
MAY 1984
ware package, I expect it to work as advertised. If
it doesn't, the manufacturer has a moral and legal
obligation to fix it or refund my money. For a
parting shot, how about the computer magazine
publishers processing a new subscription in six to
eight days and sending an acknowledgment stating
the first issue to be delivered?
This letter should not imply that all software is
bad, all documentation poor, or all advertising dis-
honest. But there is room for improvement.
Hubert M. Hill, Kingsport, TN
Presidential Poll: "Utilities" or "Hobby"?
I agree with Bert.
Mark Pelczarski, president, Penguin
Robothink
My favorite Softalk was the August 1983 issue
("Robots Come Home"). I think home robots will
soon be as popular as home computers are now.
How about a section in Softalk called
"Robotalk?"
Peter "I Love Robots" Prodoehl, Greenfield, WI
Semiglossary
On page 227 of the January Softalk, where Peter
Olivieri describes the method of creating a glossa-
ry file for Apple Writer II and the Okidata Micro-
line printers, there is an error on line number 80,
which should be corrected to read as follows:
80 Print chr$(A);
Unless the change is made, the glossary file
Special 2 is not in its correct form.
I would like to commend Jerome Levy of
Dresher, Pennsylvania, for his method of creating
this glossary file for Apple Writer II and the
Okidata Microline printers. I would also like to
advise readers that Okidata can supply an Apple
Writer II User Tip describing how to embed con-
trol codes using the control-V function of Apple
Writer II. The method that was published in
Softalk, however, allows for more features of the
Okidata Microline printers to be used, and does
get around the limitations of the Apple II System
and Apple Writer II software. Please note also that
the superscript and subscript commands on the
Okidata Microline printers can cancel each other,
which allows you to replace the stop superscript or
stop subscript commands with another possible
feature of the Okidata Microline series of printers.
Mark A. Tull, applications engineer, Okidata
January's Mind Your Business has come to my
rescue. I really thought I was never going to be
able to use all the capability of my Okidata 93 with
Apple Writer II. My sincere thanks to Jerome Levy
for sharing the glossary file program and to Peter
Olivieri for including it in his column. All I had to
do was add a semicolon on the end of line 80 and I
was in business. Thanks!
A.W. Bellen, Ridgecrest, CA
A Spoonful of Schuerger
In the February Open Discussion, William C.
Vasser asks about the shift key for upper-case let-
ters in Apple Writer 1.0. He should get the Dan
Paymar Lower Case Adapter, the instruction for
the shift-key modification, and the Apple Writer
patch. He will then get capital letters and readable
lower-case letters on the screen.
Dean A. Park wants to convert Apple Writer II
files into something Magic Window could use. I
have a great Apple Writer utility program called
Apple Writer Extended Features (Brillig Systems,
Burke, VA) that will convert Apple Writer 1.0
EPROM PROGRAMMER
for the Apple* II, Ik lie
PROGRAMS ^^^^glgi PROGRAMS
EPROM PROGRAMMER Completely self-contained single board
fits in any Apple II, ♦, e slot. Complete software supplied is
100% menu-driven, easy to use HMS3264 - S395
EPROM SIMULATOR Ram on card in Apple looks like 2758. 2716,
2732, 2764 or27128to outside world Cable plugs into external
system in place of the EPROM, Perfect for software and
hardware development and debugging. Will save you a lot of
time on EPROM changes' Also use as pseudo-DMA device or
super disk server. Get 2 for 16-bit system, 4 for 32-bits. Use
with cross assemblers for high powered development
HMS27XX - S495
EPROM CARD Expand ROM memory. Plug in one or more 2758,
2716. 2732, 2764, 27128 or 27256 Boot from EPROM without
floppy disks. Data & programs always available HMS5856
-S195
24-BIT PARALLEL CARD 24 lines in & 24 lines out on a single
card. TTL & /or CMOS in & /or out. Make Apple data acquisition
system. HMS2424 - S195 (Cables extra)
SPANISH CONVERSION Make your Apple lie display and print
Spanish with flip of switch Turn your existing word processor
into a Spanish word processor1 Excellent for teaching and
learning Spanish, and preparing quizzes and tests Displays
on screen and prints on Okidata 92 , 93. Apple DMP. etc.:
HMS-SPI - S195 Use letter quality printer, Apple LQP. etc.:
HMS-SP2 - S495. Coming - French, German, Arabic. Hebrew
and Greek
'Apple reg. Apple Comp.
umc Holl'ster
nivlo Microsystems, Inc.
uyniTr One Astro Drive
m Hollister, CA 95023
FREE (408)636-1000 • Telex 296685 (RCA)
CATALOG
Rep & Disti Inquiries Invited
THE PICK
OF THE
CROP
Reston Computer Group
A Prentice-Hall Company
11480 Sunset Hills Rd.
Reston, VA 22090
If you own an Apple computer, here are three of the freshest,
juciest new titles to pick for your library.
THE GUIDE TO APPLEWRITER II, by G. Alex Ayres and John A. Allen,
makes this word-processing program as simple to learn as it is easy to
use. Using step-by-step examples and 75 illustrations, it explains the
editor and shows first-time users how to do everything from entering and
editing text to printing letter-perfect documents.
VISICALC" EXTENSIONS FOR THE APPLE II AND lie, by Jack
Grushcow, is an applications oriented guide that can help you extend
and adapt Visicalc™ to your own needs. Because it focuses on
customized printing and sorting extensions, data transfer between
spreadsheets, and connecting spreadsheets to the outside world, it's a
must for the serious Visicalc™ user.
THE COMPLEAT APPLE™ CP/M, by Steven Frankel, is the first
comprehensive guide for Apple™ CP/M users. It provides in-depth
comparisons between two CP/M 2.2 versions, the Microsoft Soft Card
and the Micropro Star Card/Applicard. It also examines the Digital
Research ALS card utilizing CP/M, and reviews the performance of over
40 software programs.
Visit your local book store or computer retailer and pick the title
that's ripe for you. Or pick a bunch, from Reston.
APPLE'" is a registered trademark of Apple, Inc.
Visicalc is a registered trademark of Visicorp
Available at your local bookstore and computer retailer, or call us at (800)
336-0338.
6
Picture it!
Graphics processing that's
easy, flexible and fun .
Let PIXIT do the difficult work for
you.
Create A Shape using simple key-
stroke commands.
Shape Table Editor allows up to
128 shapes to be added or deleted
anywhere in table.
Font Library provides a variety of
sizes and styles of upper and lower
case text fonts.
PIXIT Shape Library includes a
convenient selection of pre-drawn
shapes.
Picture Editor features mixed text
and graphics, circles and lines, color-
fill, and shape tables.
Nice Features . . .
Uses standard Hi-res picture and
Applesoft shape table files which are
compatible with Koala Pad " and
other graphics utilities.
Easy to use load/scroll and menu
selection routines.
Supports most popular dot matrix
printers.
No additional hardware required.
Great Reviews!
"Pixit s reasonable cost, efficient pro-
gramming, user trust and simple key
commands all add up to a purchase
that you might strongly consider . . .
an attractive package for almost any
plier of the graphic arts."
SOFTALK January 1984
$49.95 at software dealers or
direct from BAUDVILLE. Call
(616) 957-3036.
PIXIT requires a 48K Apple - II, 11 + He or FRANKLIN
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MM
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Grand Rapids, Ml 49506 Phone (616) 957-3036
sunn
files (I don't know about II) into text files and back
again. Perhaps that would help. It also does many
other useful things, such as permit the embedding
of printer control characters into an Apple Writer
file, multiple copies of letters with different ad-
dresses, and simple editing of Applesoft pro-
grams.
R. Benjamin wants to know about using lower
case. I find the Paymar adapter easy to use from
within an Applesoft program, and some handy pro-
gramming routines are available from either your
dealer or from Dan Paymar. The adapter does
have a shift lock, and it can also be totally ig-
nored—if I didn't tell you it was there, you
wouldn't know. I have not bothered to make the
shift-key modification because I'm not sure it
would be compatible with some of my utilities and
now I'm in the habit of using the escape key. As
far as adding RAM : Though it is not readily usable
to the average programmer, if you get one of the
DOSs that go onto the added board, you will pick
up about 10K of available memory.
I have a question about typeahead buffers.
Does anybody have one that will work while
something is being written to the disk?
Ray Schuerger, Pittsburgh, PA
Arrested Flasher
The March Softalk contains a letter from Dale
Watson of Cincinnati, Ohio, that describes a pro-
gram to stop the Apple's cursor from flashing.
The assembler code listed, however, was incor-
rect. In the third line of code:
310: 40 91 28 68 3C 21 FD
the 3C in location 314 should have been a 4C. The
4C is the 6502's code for a jump. The final three
codes translate to Jump $FD2 1 . The 6502 cannot
process a 3C; therefore, it issues an error and the
program won't run.
David Ingram, Fairfax, VA
Skip the Preliminaries
I hope I can help other Apple He and WordStar
owners avoid one of the blind alleys that I've been
in. If WordStar starts to show a few odd characters
on the monitor, particularly in the overlay mes-
sages, and then the cursor won't move at all, the
problem probably is in the Apple eighty-
column/64K extended memory card.
The chips at fault seem to be the LS245 and the
LS374. Cleaning their pins and the card's gold fin-
gers helps somewhat. Removing the jumper Jl
also seems to help. The best method, though, is re-
placing the card before the ninety-day warranty
runs out.
Skip Zeller, Corte Madera, CA
Rent-A-Mentor
I read with interest R. Benjamin's various ques-
tions about Apples in the February Open Discus-
sion. I would like to add the voice of one who
learned his lore by poking around on the keyboard
and keeping an open ear when people talked Apple
II. I have an Apple II Plus upgraded with a Videx
Enhancer II, which supports upper- and lower-
case letters, shift-lock, typeahead buffer, and user-
defined keys (called macros). My answers are
biased in favor of this hardware system.
Lower-case adaptability in an Apple can be
had, I am told, by the addition of a Videx lower-
case chip onto the motherboard. However, before
you go this route, check your Apple. I bought this
chip, and was about to try it, when I noticed that it
only works on revision seven Apples and above.
Mine is a revision six Apple, so I was out of luck
MAY 1984
and had to go another route. Lower case can be
used in most data applications (word processors,
textfile-based data management programs, and so
on). Remember, however, that if you use the
lower-case letters in those applications, you will
have to be consistent. Doing a search for "John
Smith" will not turn up "JOHN SMITH." Also,
if you would like to transfer data (or a program)
that is based on lower case, a non-lower-case-
adapted Apple II will not see the lower-case letters
correctly. And, unless you have a Basic lower-
case interpreter (such as GPLE or Beagle Basic),
your machine will not understand lower case.
A typeahead buffer enables you to type faster
than the computer's keyboard memory buffer
would normally permit. For example, if you are
an excellent typist and would like to type fifty
words per minute, your Apple will forget some of
your letters. With a typeahead buffer, the letters
you type will all (eventually) show up on the moni-
tor.
An eighty-column board can be used in some
selected applications that support eighty columns.
For example, Apple Writer II does not support an
eighty-column data display without an eighty-
column preboot. The preboot comes on another
disk, which comes with an additional charge.
Numeric keypads are fine if you use them. If
you are familiar with the ten-key numeric pad of a
calculator, a numeric keypad is an advantage when
it comes to speed. I think a typewriter is a type-
writer, and a numeric keypad is a costly nuisance.
You should adapt to the instrument at hand. Do
you feel the need to use a keypad when you type
the date on a letter, or do you teach yourself where
the numbers are on the typewriter keyboard? As
for other options, a shift lock is very useful when
entering program information, or when you don't
want to constantly use the shift key to type upper-
case letters and lower-case numbers. Finally, con-
cerning user-defined keys, how much will you use
them? A lot? Some? Never? A utility program
such as GPLE supports user-defined keys with no
additional cost for hardware.
This has been quite a lengthy answer to some
short questions— but I write with the view that I
wish someone had told me a few of these things
when I first got my Apple II!
Steve Matlock, Cypress, CA
Pascal Pal
This is in response to Ed Lusky's plea for help.
Try to get a version of Pascal similar to that used
in the computer courses you are taking. If you
can't, then try Apple Pascal, which is based on
UCSD Pascal, a popular version (at least, I like
it). The Apple He's 64K can accommodate Pascal;
as of this writing, the Apple Pascal system can't
make use of any additional memory if you had it.
(I've heard that Apple is going to release a new
version that can make use of extra memory, but I
don't know when.)
Two disk drives are quite sufficient for most
applications, but if you have extra money that you
just don't know what to do with, then I suggest
you buy Apple's eighty-column card. There are
two versions of the card, one of which gives you
64K of additional memory. You might want to buy
that one; if Apple releases a new version of Pascal
soon, you'll thank yourself.
Paul Lucas, Levittown, NY
Public Libraries
This is in response to Paul Raymer's letter in the
February Open Discussion bemoaning the lack of
inexpensive CP/M software in Apple 5 1/4-inch
Apple's9 new ProDOS
is pro Thunderclock
When Apple designed their new
ProDOS operating system for the Apple II
family, they included an important new
function — the ability to automatically
read a clock/calendar card. Nice touch.
It means that every time you create
a new file or modify an existing one, the
time and date are automatically recorded
and stored in the CATALOG.
Now you
S*S/Cby
ach<«neyou a'e"a<
the nJr.J"^
fsrCard
""\*'0D0S.
roD°SseeSi
4ft
can instantly
know the
exact time
your files were
last updated.
Apple could
have chosen any
clock for ProDOS
to recognize,
but they chose
only one.
Thunderclock.
It's the only
clock men-
tioned in
the ProDOS
manuals.
That's a nice
stroke for us, but it's
even better for you.
Because, in addition
to organizing your disk
files, Thunderclock will
add a new dimension to
all the new ProDOS-based
software. For instance, with
business or communications
* Apple and the Apple logo are registered trademarks of
Apple Computer, Inc.
™ ProDOS is a trademark of Apple Computer, Inc.
(D
"0
B
o
o
c
CD
C/>
C
software you can access a data base or
send electronic mail automatically, when
the rates are lowest. Even when you're not
around. And that's just a start. The better
you can use your Apple, the better you
can use a Thunderclock.
Thunderclock gives you access to
the year, month, date, day-of-week,
hour, minute and second. It lets you time
intervals down to milliseconds and is
compatible with
all of Apple's
languages.
Thunderclock
comes with a one-year
warranty, is powered by
on-board batteries and runs
accurately for up to four
years before simple battery
replacement.
If you want to make ProDOS
really produce, take a page from the
manual — get yourself a Thunderclock -
the official ProDOS clock.
See your dealer or contact us.
WTHUNDERWARE, INC.
44 Hermosa Avenue, Oakland, CA 94618
(415) 652-1737
SOFTUNE
.SOFTI INF
SOFTI IMP
<;nPTi imp
The neon goes out on the old Softline logo and a bold, new title takes its place. It's the same brilliant, ir-
reverent, and challenging journal of computer gaming you'd expect from Softalk Publishing— now it's all in
the name. A magazine designed to put you on the path to a more recreational mode of existence with the
latest news and reviews, profiles, in-depth features, humor, tips, contests, and tutorials. Each issue is
crammed with all you need to stay sharp in the volatile realm of computer games. Buying them, playing
them, and making them— adventures, arcades, strategy, and role-playing fantasy.
P.O. Box 60
North Hollywood, CA 91603
$12 for one year (six issues) $20 for two years
Visa Mastercard
Charge to my
Account # _
Signature
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Name
Address.
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_State_
u
Please allow 8 weeks for delivery of first issue.
j
MAY 1984
format. Public domain software is readily avail-
able. Many of the programs in the CPMUG and
SIG/M libraries work under Apple CP/M with ab-
solutely no modification. Many others need only
minor reconfiguration (terminal configuration,
mostly). Since most of the programs are supplied
as source code and are well documented, it is
fairly easy to configure them to work on the Ap-
ple. In fact, in several cases Apple configuration is
provided by conditional assembly statements that
are already in the code.
According to literature I obtained from
CPMUG in April 1983, the CPMUG library of
ninety-two volumes is available from the New
York Area Computer Club for ten dollars per vol-
ume on 8-inch disks or for eighteen dollars per
volume on Apple 5 1/4-inch disks.
The SIG/M library of 152 volumes is even less
expensive. It costs five dollars per volume, plus
one dollar per order, for 8-inch format from
SIG/M-Amateur Computer Group of Scotch
Plains, New Jersey. Many clubs and groups make
this library available in Apple 5 1/4-inch format.
One such club is Apple T.R.E.E. in Huntington,
West Virginia.
Finally, I was surprised at Raymer's statement
concerning the need for an update to make CP/M
work on his He. I moved a Microsoft card from an
Apple II Plus to an Apple lie and had absolutely no
problems.
Gary Anderson, Huntington, WV
Faster Out of the Huddle
I would like to respond to Lynn Leopard (March
Open Discussion). I had the same problem with
the new version of Strategic Simulations's Com-
puter Quarterback being slower than the original
version. I called the company and they said all the
older versions were thrown out. I was stuck with
playing the game in slow motion— until I received
my new Titan Technologies Accelerator II in the
mail. Boy, was it amazing! The speed increase was
incredible, and it worked with more than games. It
sped up all my favorite programs, including
VisiCalc, Apple Writer II, and DB Master. No
more waiting for me; my hat is off to the people of
Titan Technologies of Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Brian T. Knight, Tecumseh, MI
Santa's Star-Gazers
I am a school speech/language pathologist and, in
addition, have just begun teaching computer
classes at a rural elementary school. The school
system is out of money after buying the hardware,
and I have stretched my pocketbook to the limit.
My first question is, if you are allowed to make
backup copies for your personal use, does this in-
clude a school system purchasing a package and
then copying enough for all of the schools in the
system? Can a single school purchase a package
and then make copies for all of the computers
within that school?
Second, I looked forward for months to buying
a Telstar One by IUS to accompany my daughter's
Christmas telescope. The reviews made it sound
like an excellent program. However, when I tried
to order this program I was told that it was discon-
tinued by IUS because of a disagreement with the
author! Does anyone know where an old copy can
be obtained or when it will again be in production?
Jill B. Harman, Manchester, GA
III Cheers
I am trying to locate an eight-inch floppy disk
drive for use on an Apple III. Perhaps a reader has
a suggestion. I need disks that are double-sided
Superior Software, Inc
Announces 3 NEW
Educational Adventures
by Stephen Cabrinety
All APPLE* Compatible
Simulating the duel
the death of
and Greridel, j^te-
adventure tecalj
importanL'wn^cer
epic poemV
Beowulf.
An intriguing pursuit of vita]
political documents in
18th-century London
adventure will chall
your intuition a
knowledge of
history.
dguesft for tye Scarlet Hetter
Based on Nathanie
Hawthorne's story,
this 17th-century timed
simulation will stimulate1
your knowledge q|
American literates
FREE embroidered emblem for each purchase is our
way of saying Thank You.
Ask your dealer OR Order Direct
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□ Legendary Conflict .... $28.95
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each program postage &
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Check or postal money
order $
Mail to:
Superior Software, Inc.®
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Telephone 612/941-0363
"APPLE is a trademark of Apple Computer. Inc.
SOt TALK
The essential
new catalog of the
business computer
forms and supplies
you need most for
your APPLE!
It's quick • convenient •
easy-to-use.
Now Deluxe Computer
Forms, a division of Deluxe Check
Printers, gives you the software-
compatible checks, invoices, state-
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you've been searching for. And acces-
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And we can ship them all to
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Deluxe delivers your order in record
time because we know how much you
depend on it to make your office run
smoothly. And we deliver it to your pre-
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See what we've got to offer your
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Send for your FREE
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catalog of computer forms and essentials.
Company Name
City
(
Zip
Phone
Clip out and mail or call TOLL FREE:
1-800-328-0304
(In Minnesota, call 1-612-483-7300.)
7370
and double-density. I need all necessary compo-
nents available without having to do my own de-
sign work, including the disk drive, controller
board, power supply, cabinet, and SOS driver. I
would be willing to assemble a kit or separate
components. It would be especially nice if I had
the ability to read (via a SOS driver) single-sided,
single-density disks (IBM 3740 format), and if the
whole package cost under $1,000 (the further
under the better).
I believe that the Apple III is an excellent ma-
chine. It's too bad that Apple bungled its introduc-
tion and promotion. For a general user, its strong-
est point appears to be its weakest link— device
independence through SOS drivers. Many people
appear to find the installation of these intimidat-
ing. Being an avid Apple III and Pascal fan, I find
the articles by John Jeppson and Jim Merritt to be
particularly fascinating. Jeppson is above my tech-
nical level, providing me with much to learn. Mer-
ritt writes more for my level and his articles are
readily understandable. I compliment him on his
clarity of explanation and good analogies and ex-
amples.
Milton L. Johnson, Milwaukie, OR
Business and Recreational Basic
Our organization currently has ten 256K Apple
JJJs in use. The users range in experience from a
few who have had Fortran and Cobol training to
rank novices (like me).
My responsibilities lie in the field of parks/rec-
reational-areas planning. I have a real interest in
Business Graphics and its potential application to
mapping, advertising, and internal presentations. I
thought I was getting a handle on it until I started
reading your column. You made me aware that I
was just scratching the surface. Business Basic is,
at least for now, the operative language in our of-
fices. Can any readers suggest any books on Apple
III Basic? Keeping in mind the range of experience
of our users, and the lack of elaboration in the
manuals, such a text would be worth its weight in
gold around here.
Dill Ringham, Cochrane, Ontario, Canada
You may want to contact the Business Apple
Group, located at 1850 Union Street, Suite 494,
San Francisco, CA 94123.
Oh, Good Graph
I compiled the BasicGraph program that appeared
in the December 1983 Basic Solution column. For
compiling, I used the Hayden Compiler Plus.
After compiling, the pie chart shown in the col-
umn took nine seconds to be drawn. Incidentally, I
did have to make some modifications to the pro-
gram before it compiled. For some reason I kept
getting the out-of-data error when I ran the com-
piled version. I finally solved it by manually as-
signing C$; that is, C$(0) = "0000",
C$(l) = "2202", and so on. Quite a nice program.
Thanks.
David T. Harvey, Jr., Arlington, VA
A Natural Response to Peeking
In response to Mike Zulauf s letter (March Open
Discussion), the area around hex location C030 is
a soft switch that controls the speaker. Listing
$C030 in machine language or peeking at location
— 16336 in Basic instructs the computer that the
speaker is being addressed, which clicks in re-
sponse. Regarding the read at location $C080, the
computer will hang unless the Apple has been boot-
ed with a System Master disk and Integer Basic,
because it's another soft switch that requires In-
MAY 1984
teger Basic to work. For a better explanation,
please see the If/Then/Maybe column in the
February Softalk.
I also want to comment on how great it has
been getting Softalk the last couple of months. I
find the articles very insightful, especially the
guide to assembly language, and I always read the
software reviews. I use Apples at school but don't
currently own one; reading Softalk has made me
more determined to get one. Thanks, and keep up
the good work.
Peter Neubert, Appleton, WI
King-Size Sheets
We have an Apple He with 128K. Our software is
Multiplan by Microsoft. We evidently build larger
spreadsheets than normal because we are running
out of storage capacity. We feel that we need from
200K to 300K— and all of this on one disk. Can a
reader help us with the best way to accomplish
this?
David L. Parks, Decatur, AL
A Farthing for Your Thoughts
I have an Apple He computer with an Epson
MX-80 III F/T printer, and I use the Apple Writer
II word processor. I have a need for the British
pound symbol in much of the word processing
work I do. I would like to embed the program to
print the pound symbol in the Apple Writer glossa-
ry so that I can use it easily when I want to. I
would appreciate it if a reader could tell me how to
do so. Can I program one of the keys to print the
pound symbol? I know nothing about program-
ming, so I will need to know the complete step-by-
step process.
Kendall C. Sanford, Baie d'Urfe, Quebec, Canada
Adavocate
I think that Ada is a strong language and I would
like to use it. Can someone tell me if it is available
for my Apple He (64K with an eighty-column
card) and where I can get it? Also, what operating
system does it run under?
Mike McCormick, Pittsburgh, PA
Super Text, Poor Spelling
I have been searching for a long time for a spelling
checker that will work with Supertext and have
found nothing that even comes close. Can anyone
help me?
Jack Woychowski, Toms River, NJ
Mourning After
Has anyone written a program for computing the
Yahrzeit (a Yiddish term for the anniversary of
death, pronounced Yorksite)? I would like to pur-
chase a program for this if available.
Harry Northrop, Waterville, NY
Omnisoft, The Artful Dodger
The elusive Omnisoft Corporation and its Star-
fire Games division— formerly operating a one-
sided mail order business out of a Chats worth,
California, condominium— has relocated. Ac-
cording to the office of the Regional Chief Postal
Inspector for the western region in San Bruno,
California, Omnisoft has moved to Wichita
Falls, Texas. We are as yet unable to locate an
address or phone number for the company in
Wichita Falls. Starfire complaints should be ad-
dressed to the Regional Chief Postal Inspector,
1407 Union, Memphis, Tennessee 18161. Atten-
tion: Fraud. 31
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SOFTALK CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING
Adventure
TIPS HAS MOVED!
ADVENTURE TIPS & SOLUTIONS
has moved. Our new address:
TIPS,
Box 312-A, Hobbs, NM 88240.
ADVENTURE TIPS & SOLUTIONS
Quality books complete with Full Maps, Clues,
and Solutions. Colossal Cave, Deadline,, all 3
Zorks, Enchanter, Starcross, Transylvania,
Death in the Caribbean, Mask of Sun, Cranston
Manor, Ulysses, Wizard & Princess, Mission
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$3.95 each, any 3 for $10, or 4 for $12. NM
residents add 5% tax. Send check/MO to: TIPS,
Box 312-A, Hobbs, NM 88240.
!!!ORG!!!
A game with mighty monsters you must kill to
get to ORG & save the beautiful princess. It has
CLEAR-CRISP-COLOR-GRAPHICS, MUSIC
THAT WOULD HUMBLE BEETHOVEN. 5
levels only $10 + $1 shipping and handling.
Send check/cash to Robert Cucinotta, 415
Poinsettia Rd., Belleair, FL 33516.
EAMON ADVENTURES
Eamon starter kit of 18 adventures (Set 1) on 9
disks for $35. Set 2 of 18 for $35. Set 3 of 14
adv. & utilities for $30. First 36 for $60. All 50
for $75. Sample disk @ $5. 100 Generik bulk
SS/SD disks for $130. Jeff Bianco, 7210 N.
Mercer Way, Mercer Island, WA 98040.
♦FREE* ADVENTURE HINTS!
Get one free cheat sheet/home. Send SASE w/5
choices. We will send 1 FREE 'Slothsheet' full
of hints and our catalog.
SLOTHWARE SOFTWARE
529 Farragut PL, Danville, CA 94526
CHEAT A BIT (or a lot) with our charm-
ing maps and coded clues for ADVENTURE
GAMES. Dark Crystal, Wizard & Princess,
Ulysses, Cranston Manor, Mask of Sun, Ser-
pent's Star, Mystery House, Softporn, Transyl-
vania, Death in Caribbean. RETURN MAIL
SERVICE. $5/set or Summer Special: 3 sets/$10.
Ask Alice, Box 3074, Stony Creek, CT 06405.
ZORK MAPS & HINT BOOKS
Master Zork I, II, III, Witness, Infidel, En-
chanter, Starcross, Deadline, Planetfall, Adven-
ture, and Suspended with our maps and hint
books. Also, the Adventurer 's Tutorial (Tips on
how to play any adventure game). $4.95 ea. or
any 2 for $9! Visa/MC, Check or M/O. BRASS
LANTERN PRESS, Dept. ST, 1625 W. 39th
Ave., Kansas City, KS 66103; (913) 722-2464.
HELP WANTED?
Detailed and accurate maps and clues. We have
them for Mask of the Sun, Serpent 's Star, Ulys-
ses, Softporn Adventure, and Wizard and the
Princess. $4.95 ea, 5/$20. NDA, Box 665,
Sandy Hook, CT 06482.
AT WITT'S END?
Stuck on an adventure? Witt's Notes are the an-
swer! We offer professional-looking booklets
with complete hints and maps. Choose from a
huge library of games including: Mystery, Wiz-
ard, Cranston, Ulysses, Time, Dark Crystal,
Zork (I, II, or III), Deadline, Starcross, Wit-
ness, Suspended, Planetfall, Enchanter, Infidel,
Mask Sun, Serpent, Transylvania, Quest,
Coveted, Sherwood, Kabul, Crit, Mass, Gruds,
Death Caribbean, Orig. Adventure and more.
Prices: 1 @ $5.95, 2 @ $10, each add. $5 and 6
@ $25. We accept check, MO, and MC/Visa.
Write today for free catalog which includes but-
tons, posters, discounted software, and other of-
fers. Send to: WITT'S END, 42 Morehouse
Rd., Easton, CT 06612; (203) 254-0728. Dealer
inq. invited. CT res. add 7V2% tax.
UNIQUE SOLUTIONS
STUCK ON: Quest, Masquerade, Covet. Mirr.,
Witness , Mask Sun ,Serp Star. 30 + pg adventure
walk-throughs divided into nonpeek sections.
Story, hints, instrux + maps if appl. $5.95 ea.
Ultima III Hint & Solve $4.95. Straight-away
Guides avail, for Infidel & more $2.95 ea. Send
for FREE list. Adventure Solutions, 5199 NE,
12 Ave., Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33334.
I Apple HI 1
PASSWORD HI
It's here at last, The 4 Billion Year Code. Protect
your Apple HI files and beat the WHIZ KIDS at
their own game. Advanced data encryption al-
gorithm will password protect any type of file:
spreadsheets, DB files, programs, word proc-
essing files, and more (Hard disk supported).
Breaking into a file protected by Password IE
can take 4 billion years! Keep your information
YOURS. Can you afford not to? Introductory
offer: $55. From: GREBAR, Box 83 Station C,
Winnipeg, Canada.
Business
VEHICLE MAINTENANCE REPORTER
A complete record-keeping system for large and
small vehicle fleets. Covers repairs, mainte-
nance, expenses, parts costs, labor costs, ven-
dors, mechanics, vehicles, and departments at
machine language speed. $649. Nordic Soft-
ware Inc., 4910 Dudley, Lincoln, NE 68504;
(402) 466-6502. MC/Visa accepted.
THE ORGANIZER!
Let your Apple II, 11+ or He maintain your
schedule of appt. & social events. Even remem-
bers birthdays, holidays, etc. from year to year!
Easy to use, only $19.95. DOS 3.3 DGD Soft-
ware, 980 Masefield Rd., Balto., MD 21207.
STATUS
The complete statistical analysis program for
business and science. You've seen the rest, now
try the best. Free brochure. Software Special-
ties, Box 329, Springboro, OH 45066; (513)
748-0471.
REAL ESTATE PROPERTY MAN-
AGEMENTsoftware for owners of single
family, apartments, condos, offices, mini-
storage, duplexes. Provides instant cash flow
analysis, records expenditures on each unit,
prints cash flow reports and summary of opera-
tions report, and accumulates cost for tax pur-
poses. $149.95. Tomar Productions, Box
740871, Dallas, TX 75374; (214) 750-1212.
DIRECT MAIL H-a sophisticated mail
merge for Apple H/IIe. Merge form letters from
Apple Writer and other text processors with
Visifile, General Manager, PFS, DIF or Text
files. Fast processing. Easy to use. Builds mail-
ing lists. Performance guaranteed. $99.95 plus
shpg. Eval. disk and manual available. VEN-
TURE SOFTWARE INC., Box 6502-S,
Nashua, NH 03063; (603) 889-2556.
LETTER MENU-an integrated series of
WPLs for Apple Writer with more than 1,500
lines of WPL commands. Simplify daily cor-
respondence. Letter building/addressing are
automatic. Easy to use. Menu driven. Tutorials
give educational tips for writing better WPLs.
$39 ppd. or manual only $6. VENTURE SOFT-
WARE INC., Box 6502-S, Nashua, NH 03063;
(603) 889-2556.
TECHNICAL ANALYSIS
Sophisticated! Bar and P&F charts, mov. aves,
oscillators. Many indicators (R.S.I, %R, OBV,
-I- more). Auto or manual data. Very powerful
and very friendly! Great buy at only $99.
Demo— $10. Brochure— DECISION TOOLS,
199 N. El Camino Real, Suite F-293, Encinitas,
CA 92024; (619) 942-7148.
MIN-ROUTE
MIN-ROUTE can be used by urban and resource
planners in evaluating road networks. The pro-
gram will find the shortest path through a road
network from a point of departure to a destina-
tion. Requires Apple II + /lie and 1 drive.
$49.95. TW2 Consulting, Box 1074, Eagar,
AZ 85925.
PROTECT YOUR INVESTMENTS!
The permanent portfolio analyzer designs,
analyzes and tracks a portfolio that is balanced
for the long term, offering capital preservation
and appreciation, no matter what course the
economy takes. "... a well-executed,
well-written, well-documented package," says
Softalk's Ken Landis. $295. Demo disk $25.
Visa/MC. C.R. Hunter & Associates, 1527
Northwood Dr., Cincinnati, OH 45237; (513)
761-9322.
ESTATE TAX PLANNER
For MULTIPLAN users, Este has two modules.
Intervivos calcs federal & state taxes for '84 &
'87, links plans of spouses, compares tax &
asset savings of two plans, figures fees & more.
Postmortem has the same features & calcs cash
needed to settle current estate. "What if" &
professional reports. Requires 64K. Apple or
MSDOS. $69.95. Wirewright, One Irvine Row,
Carlisle, PA 17013; (717) 243-5513.
STRUCTURAL ENGINEER PROGRAMS
Frames, trusses, continuous beams, retaining
walls, for 48K Apple with disk drive using Ap-
plesoft. Finite element. Patterson Engineering,
17315 Ash St., Fountain Valley, CA 92708;
(714) 848-7866.
THE DISK LABELLER
A powerful program for AUTOMATIC printing
of disk labels showing FILES, DOS— sec free &
used. Built-in default & escape functions, auto
config. for printer slots & drives. Completely
MENU-driven. Req. no doc. Includes 300 5 in.
labels. Req. 64K Apple II, II + , He disk dr.,
printer. Only $59.95 + $3 ship. NY res. add
sales tax. Practical Software Ltd., Dept. ST,
Box 64, Pomona, NY 10970; (914) 425-1158.
Communications
APPLE— IBM COMMUNICATION
With APPLE-BISYNC your Apple II or lie can
communicate directly with IBM mainframe sys-
tems software. Ideal to transfer data files in both
directions. EASY TO USE! Complete RJE ca-
pabilities: submit jobs/data, extract listings/re-
ports. True RJE 3780 emulation. Also Apple to
Apple communication. URGEO Software, Box
305, Cheney, WA 99004; (509) 838-6058.
WIZARDRY/ULTIMA/? PLAYERS
No matter what your game, you need WIZI-
NEWS! The source for news, gossip, tips, ar-
ticles, interviews for ALL fantasy/adventure
games! Subscribe: $8/4 issues, sample $2.
Nichols Services, 6901 Buckeye Way, Colum-
bus, GA 31904.
WORLDWIDE WIZFANS AGREE!!
Wizardry's BEST players use the WIZISYS-
TEM!!! NEW 85+ page manual: complete
charts, great tips, step-by-step help for all 3
games ($15). Superior maps $5 (Sc. 1, 2, or 3).
All $25. OUR fix disk modifies/prints all 3
games AND is but $15! FREE support/updates.
Other Wiz-Products, too! Visa/MC. Don't
waste $$ on inferior imitations! Nichols Ser-
vices, 6901 Buckeye Way, Columbus, GA
31904; (404) 323-9227.
KNIGHTS OF WIZARDRY !!!
Frustrated? Rookies and skilled players alike
win with our system. Fully detailed maps con-
taining all notes and hints needed. $6 each sce-
nario. Master Manual has secret tricks and
helpful hints, only $12. All for only $22.50.
Master Maze System, 1404 S. Ocean Blvd.,
Myrtle Beach, SC 29577.
EXODUS CONSTRUCTION SET
The ULTIMAte Editor that lets you:
Edit towns, dungeons, & the world.
Populate your world with creatures.
Uses easy on-screen editing technique.
Manual is included.
Make Ultima III scenarios for only $25 ( +6.5 %
CA resident). Send Check or MO to:
SLOTHWARE SOFTWARE,
529 Farragut PI., Danville, CA 94526.
ULTIMAte Solutions . . .
Exodus's End for Ultima III and Minax's Bane
for Ultima II will solve all your problems! With
both programs: Completely overhaul your char-
acter, print out statistics to printer, save or back
up characters for later use. Send $9.95 for one,
$15 for both prgms to:
Olorin Software
Box 96
Friendship, OH 45630.
GIANT SLOTHS HATE RICE
Who cares? All you're really interested in is
winning at Ultima II and ///, right? World's
easiest to use character editors. $9 each or $14
for both disks. Specify U or HI. Mike Scanlin,
34 Giralda, Long Beach, CA 90803.
WIZARDRY MAPS
The First and The Best WIZARDRY MAPS.
All Three maps for $7 or $3 each scenario.
SEND to: Stanley Kasper, 4932 N. Ridgeway,
Chicago, IL 60625.
♦♦♦ATTENTION EXODUS PLAYERS^
Ultima III Character Editor. You can easily
modify all of your character's stats! Poisoned?
Dead? Ashes? Not enough Strength, Intelli-
gence, Dexterity, or Wisdom? Insufficient
H.P., Gold, Food? Need weapons or armour?
Edit Anything! 48K Applesoft DOS 3.3 Charac-
ter Editor $13, Notes & Map, $6.50. JENS
Designs, Box 1795, Sandy, UT 84091.
KNIGHTS OF WIZARDRY!!!
Frustrated? Rookies and skilled players alike
win with our system. Fully detailed maps con-
taining all notes and hints needed. $6 each sce-
nario. Master manual has secret tricks and
helpful hints, only $12. All for only $22.50.
Master Maze System, 1404 S. Ocean Blvd.,
Myrtle Beach, SC 29577.
WIZARDRY GAMESTERS
Teleported into solid rock? Restore your charac-
ters with Legacy Breaker. Works with all three
scenarios, modifies everything, including items,
except chevrons. Only $20. Quantum, 106 E
Washington, Coleman, MI 48618.
H+ CAD
Comprehensive, menu-oriented, graphics pro-
gram for students and engineers. Isometrics,
wire frames, architectural, etc. Rectilinear and
polar lines, circles, triangles, rectangles, ellip-
ses plain, solid, dashed, rotated, arcs, arrows,
cursor draw/erase/fill, load, save, text any size.
With coord, graph pad. $39.95 plus $2 shipping
(6% tax in CA). CADSOFT, 8125-B Ronson
Rd., San Diego, CA 92111.
MasterChart!
.HMIIIIi
Create perfect pie, bar, and line charts in 26 different
styles, color or B & W. Automatic scaling and
labeling. Includes bonus graphics illustrator,
letterer, shape maker, and plot-to-printer utilities.
All on disk. Apple 11+ or He. Satisfaction or money
back (Really!) Only $29.95. SPECTRAL GRAPHICS,
540 N. California, Suite 22A, Stockton, CA 95202.
CalL.(209) 463-7309 for C.O.D. orders only.
KOALA PAD $84.95
W/Micro Illustrator. For Apple JJ, JJ + , or lie.
Also $24 for smoked Flip Disk Box— 70 cap.
$2.50 shpg. each. IL res. +7%. Shipped
promptly HELSINGOR, 1402 Lama Ln., Mt.
Prospect, IL 60056.
FIRST-TIME OFFER!!
Customize your own Basic character set and add
text to the hi-res screen. Draw shapes with
keyboard. Create multi-shape tables automati-
cally. Reproduce lo-res graphics on hi-res
screen. Page mover (1, 2, & 3). Duplicate any
portion of hi-res screen w/ or w/o erase. Visible
sort. Exciting graphics. More. All BASIC.
Nonprotected. Documented. $30 (5% tax in
IN). WWM ENTERPRISES, R.R. 22, Box 31,
Terre Haute, IN 47802.
3M DISKETTES . . . $20.95
Box of 10 5.25" SS/DD/RH diskettes for Ap-
ple. Ship in 24 hrs. Check/MC/Visa. $2 ship-
ping. Order now! Cactus Computer, 3090 E.
Palouse River Dr., Sp305, Moscow, ID 83843;
(208) 882-8603.
VERBATIM DISKS
5.25" SS/DD $218/100; 5.25" DS/DD
$320/100; Flip 'N' Sort (75 capacity) $19.95;
Library Case $2.50 each. Free Brochure. Unik
Associates, 12545 W. Burleigh, Brookfield, WI
53005; (414) 782-5030.
Easy-View,
Disk File Work Station
• Stores 100 Disks, Dust Free
• 25 Disk Titles Clearly Visible
• Fast, Easy Access, Stackable
• Top Flips Back, Locks Upright
$Q95 AddSI SO
%J Postage & Handling
Cash. check or M O NoCOD s
RULE ONE
42 Oliver Slreel Depl S, Newark, N.J 07105
SOFTALK CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING
FREE7DISKETTES
SAVE MONEY ! Apple II */e users can use the
diskette flip side, if another "write enable'
notch is correctly made.
The DISK NOTCHED by QUORUM
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QUORUM It LOCKS OUT' DISK FLAWS and
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100% %onq 7*>ack SaUijactm GcwMtee /
DISK NOTCHER is $14.95
CERTIFIX'" is just $24.95
ONLY $29.95 for BOTH!
Add $1 50 s/h • CA add 6V? % tax
QUORUM INT€RNRTIONfll, Unltd.
INDUSTRIAL STATION P O BOX 2134- ST
OAKLAND. CA 94614
FIX YOUR APPLE H/H +
APPLE CHIPS™ Kits provide step-by-step in-
struction manual and IC chips so anyone can fix
most system failures. Kit contains at least one of
every IC (except 6502 & ROMs). Motherboard
Chip Kit $49.95. Disk U Chip Kit $34.95. Com-
bination Motherboard & Disk $79.95. Add $2
shipping/order. Send check to Apple-Dayton,
Inc., Box 1666, Fairborn, OH 45324. OH res.
add 5.5% tax. Or call (513) 879-5895. MC/Visa
accepted.
SUPPLIES
PRICES REDUCED!!
RIBBONS-Apple DMP/C. Itoh/NEC 8023
$4.29. Epson MX-70/80 $3.85. STORAGE
UNIT-75 capacity $15.75/10 capacity $1.49.
For price list call (415) 778-2595 or write:
Argonaut Dist., 1104 Buchanan Rd. ST A., An-
tioch, CA 94509.
EXTRA FONTS for FONT DOWN
LOADER by MICRO WARE. Five new
beautiful fonts on disk for only $9.95 plus $1
shipping. Free sample printout on request. Send
check to FONTWARE, Box 423, Massillon,
OH 44648.
ELEPHANT FLOPPY DISKS
Box of ten 5.25" SS/SD, w/hub rings, quality
guaranteed for a lifetime of heavy duty use.
$20/box postage paid! MC/Visa, checks, MO
welcome. AZ. res. add 5% sales tax. DATA
BYTE, 2361 Tee Dr., Lake Havasu, AZ 86403;
(602) 855-1592.
3M SCOTCH
DISKETTES $20.50
Authorized 3M distributor. Buy wholesale
5.25" SS/DD $20.50. DS/DD $25.50. Prompt
delivery! For price list call (415) 778-2595 or
write: Argonaut Dist., 1104 Buchanan Rd.
STA., Antioch, C A 94509.
APPLE JOYSTICKS.
End of 1983 production year close-out sale on
joysticks for Apple II, II + , lie. High quality,
with 2 pushbuttons and self-centering stick.
(Self-centering springs are easily removed and
replaced.) Cost $22.95 + $2.35 postage and
handling per unit. Vermont residents add 4%
sales tax. Bernard Kessler & Associates, Box
568, Colchester, VT 05446.
64K/128K RAMDRTVE He.
RAMDRTVE He is the best disk emulation for
64K or 128K extended 80-column cards. Sup-
ports DOS 3.3, Apple Pascal 1.1, and 128K
PRODOS/RAM! Features access indicators,
DOS speedup, and disk copy utility. Not pro-
tected! Separate CP/M version (thru 2.23) avail-
able. $29.95. Precision Software, 6514 N. Fres-
no St., Milwaukee, WI 53224; (414) 353-1666.
$AVE Z-80 PRO! $99.95 $AVE
Amazingly low introductory price, the Z-80
PRO! is the one for you. Totally compatible
with all CP/M software and Microsoft disks (no
pre-boot necessary). Specifically designed for
operation in the Apple II + , He, and Franklin.
Immediate delivery and 6-month Money Back
Guarantee If Not Completely Satisfied. Send
$99.95 to: Computer Accessories & Training,
2120 Turner Rd., Richmond, VA 23225.
SAVE ON 5V4" SSDD DISKS!
Verbatim = $2\l\0\ $205/100.
Datalife = $26. 50110; $250/100. All w/sleeves.
Add $2 shipping/10; $6/100. IL res. +7%.
Shipped in 48 hrs. HELSINGOR INC., 1402
Lama Ln., Mt. Prospect, IL 60056.
CHECK OUR PRICES
Double your disk capacity! Our rugged ETC-
501 DISKNOTCHER aligns and cleanly cuts
another write-enable notch to turn your SS 5.25"
disk into a double-sided. Value priced, only
$9.95 + $1.50 shipping. Protect your valuable
disks with the DATA SAFE, durable flip file
storage for 50 disks. Only $15.95 + $2.50
shipping. Send orders to: Jacobson Industries,
Box 96, Hollister, CA 95024. (In CA, please
add6%.)
DATABIND: RING NOTEBOOKS
New! Designed to FIT TRACTOR FEED PA-
PER! No more stripping or punching holes.
DATABINDS are sturdy, attractive, vinyl-
covered, office-quality notebooks. Large
capacity 1 W metal rings are cleverly spaced to
fit paper fan-folded or sideways. Black, brown,
blue, green, or orange. $6 each, set of 5/$26.
Add $2 shpg/order. DATABIND, Box D,
Margate, NJ 08402.
DOG$
Greyhound Handicapping Tutorial
Three menu-driven, multifactor systems.
Modeling Coefficients to meet YOUR needs.
Apple B $39. TOUT Co., Box 3145, Pomona,
CA 91769.
WIN$$ CRAP$ WIN$$
Crapshooting Tutorial
Skill-building exercises, tests, systems, &
simulations. Apple 11 + , He disk. $39 incl. tax.
TOUT Co., Box 3145, Pomona, CA 91769.
HO$$
Thoroughbred Handicapping Tutorial
Five menu-driven, multifactor systems. Model-
ing Coefficients to meet YOUR needs. Apple H,
$89. TOUT Co. , Box 3 145, Pomona, CA 91769.
HOME ADDRESS BOOK
New improved version 7! Keeps names, ad-
dresses, phone numbers, birthdays, anniver-
saries, & much more. 32 items for 402 families.
Reports are: ADDRESS BOOK, PHONE LIST,
DATE CALENDAR, MAILING LABELS,
etc. Easy to usel Unlocked. For 11+ or e
(w/64K). Satisfaction guaranteed! $19.95.
Ck/MC/Visa to OPT-SYSTEMS, 2109 W.
Edgewood Dr., Jefferson City, MO 65101.
FLOWERS - PFS - USERS
Computer Guide to Annuals and Perennials.
Plan your flower garden from PFS "DATA"
disk. Apple H/IIe $19.95. S&J Software, 7614
Highland St., Springfield, VA 22150.
GOLF LEAGUE MANAGER
Handles the record keeping, calculating, and re-
port writing of the golf league secretary. In-
itializes to your league stats. Flex. hep choices.
File editor. Includes auto schedule generator.
Applesoft or Pascal. Send $50 to TOMSOFT,
32007 Claeys, Warren, MI 48093.
I CHING DISK * DICE DISK
BRAND NEW!!:The I CHING in modern im-
agery!!! Complete, easily understandable, in-
sightful. / Ching Oracle Disk for APPLE U se-
ries (48K) just $59.95 (includes shipping and
sales tax). ALSO available: < < < STARS
AND DICE DISK> > > . Combines astrology
and dice in modern imagery to answer your per-
sonal questions. GREAT FUN!!! Just $29.95
complete. SEND YOUR CHECK TODAY to
FRANK KEGAN, Box 8513, EMERYVILLE,
CA 94662.
MAGIC RECIPE FILE
Put an end to lost recipes and dirty cookbooks!
Easy entry of your recipes on a U+/IIe. Look at
recipes on the screen or print 1 or more, then off
to the kitchen! View or print listings of recipes.
Users guide designed for new computer users (1
or 2 drives). $15.95 + $2. post (CA + 6Vi%).
Check or MO. PCS, 99 E. Middlefield Rd., #9,
Mountain View, CA 94043.
COMPUTER ROAD ATLAS
TAKE TRIPS WITH COMPUTER
LISTINGS SHOWING THE
BEST ROUTE
Enter departing city and destination city. ROADSEARCH-
PLUS computes and prints the best route with miles,
time and fuel. Add up to 50 USA/CANADA cities to the
original 406. DOS 3.3. Unlocked. 15 day Moneyback
Guarantee. $74.95 ($34.95 with non-expandable data-
base). Add $1 .50 S/H. Check/Visa/MC. At your dealer or.
Columbia Software
Box 2235 Z, Columbia, MD 21045
(301)997-3100
Play STRIP BLACKJACK
with 'CHYRL'
Watch CHYRL or one of her 4 female or 2 male
friends TAKE IT ALL OFF. In hi-res and color
% sound. $29.95 for 2 disk set, add $2 P&H.
Many others, see Mar' 84 ST pg 221 for INFO.
Send SASE: SANSOFT PLUS, Box 590228,
Houston, TX 77259-0228. Visa or MC, Check,
COD. Weshipfast. (713)482-6898 ANYTIME.
SPORTS FANS!!
The Sports Trax Series tracks player and team
stats as well as league standings during a season.
Enter game results for each player and the pro-
gram automatically updates totals, averages,
and standings. Each disk can store eight leagues
of eight teams each. Can be used to track ama-
teur leagues as well as sports simulations, such
as Strato-Matic or APBA. Sports now available
are: *Baseball/Softball *Soccer
♦Basketball *Hockey
Select the sport and send $24.95 to: FJ VOSS,
459 Sierra Vista Ln. , Valley Cottage, NY 10989.
FREE CATALOG
1984 ERGONOMIC
COMPUTER FURNITURE
Designs for home from over 20 national mfgrs.
Discounts * Never A shipping Charge * Visa
MC. INTERIOR DESIGN SYSTEMS,
MasterCharge * Interior Design Systems, 3641-S
St. Mary's PI. NW, Washington, DC 20007.
COMPUTER FOR TODDLERS
This unique kaleidoscopic game of color and
classical music is for ages 6 months to adult. For
Silicon Valley kids. Send $19. 95 to Byte-Omega,
695 Torrington Dr., Sunnyvale, CA 94087.
Home-Arcade
GAMES $2.50
The New Foxxivision Demo Disk is packed on
both sides with quality entertainment, graphics
and games!!! We have the lowest prices
anywhere. Send $2.50 to Foxxivision Inc.,
28090 Tavistock, Southfield, MI 48034 or send
for our free brochure] ! !
GRAPHICS GAME $4.95
Announcing the greatest price break in Apple
games history!!! Five new, original, enjoyable
games for everyone in the family. Great
graphics, animation, machine language speed,
& superb playability. Send $4.95 to Foxxivision
Inc., 28090 Tavistock, Southfield, MI 48034.
Extremely fast & reliable delivery!
HOME RUN BASEBALL $5.95
Smash a homer in Foxxivision's new hi-res
baseball game! Complete with super graphics
and machine language speed. Foxxivision Inc.,
28090 Tavistock, Southfield, MI 48034.
Home Education
BD3LE STUDY
CROSS WORD— Study, quiz, or just fun! 36
crossword puzzles with scriptural quotes, ques-
tions, hints, and answers. Create your own
puzzles or change existing ones. Send for free
description or $39.95 ( + 6% CA). VISION
SOFTWARE, Box 11131, Costa Mesa, CA
92627; (714) 642-3255 (Apple n + , He.)
S.A.T. MATH, GRAPHICS
S.A.T.-MATH: 5-part Test/Instruction Set:
Algebra, Geometry, Logic, etc. (Includes
Geometry on the hi-res screen) - $24.95. Also
BUSINESS/SCIENCE GRAPHICS: Data crea-
tion, handling, graphing; all menu-driven; pie,
bar, linear charts (B&W); auto-scaling; make
hard copy (specify printer) - $14.95. 64K Apple
II+/IIe. Reitz Video Products, Box 82, Dear-
born, MI 48121.
DRUG INFORMATION PROGRAMS
Educational programs for the home and Drug
Interaction programs for the health professional.
For complete information please write:
MEDICAL WATCH SOFTWARE
1620 Ensenada Dr., Modesto, CA 95355.
CHILDS POISON PREVENTION
By Richard Voigt MD, In Depth Poisoning is a
program for anyone who cares for children.
3-week money -back guarantee. Apple 11+ /He.
48K $39.95 + $2.50 shipping. Health Ed Soft-
ware, Box 1209, Fairfield, IA 52556. Upcom-
ing topic Headaches. MC/Visa.
FREE!! SOFTWARE CATALOG
Nearly a thousand items, mostly education, for
grades K-12. Largely APPLE but other popular
machines represented as well. Write EAV Inc.,
Pleasantville, NY 10570 or call toll free: (800)
431-2196.
GUARANTEED SOFTWARE
Documented public-domain software, send
SASE for list. Teacher's Gradebook 2.0, $25.
Loan Schedule, $50. Celestial Software, 749 N.
Clarkson, Fremont, NE 68025.
CONNOISSEUR COMPETITION
CONNOISSEUR COMPETITION. A fun pro-
gram that allows a statistical comparison to be
made between brand preferences and actual
tasting preferences. Can be used with a group or
individual. A good party program. Printer out-
put is optional. Results saved to disk. $19.95.
Requires Apple 11+ /Be and 1 drive. TW2 Con-
sulting, Box 1074, Eagar, AZ 85925.
MULTI-LINGUAL SOFTWARE
For Spanish, French, German, and other lan-
guages. No extra hardware required. Apple
11 + /lie. Word processor and educational pro-
grams. Free catalog. Le Professeur, 959 NW
53rd St., Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33309; (305)
771-6498.
THE COLLEGE GRADE BOOK
You enter test (assgnmt) score - It gives percent,
grade, and "to date" grade, percent, and point
total. You select % cutoff levels. Four different
hard-copy printouts (1 to post selected results).
Sorts & Searches on all fields. Primarily used
w/up to 15 grade entries/semester. $25. L.F.
Gaither, 3738 Thesta, Fresno, CA 93726; (209)
227-1349.
LEARN COMPUTER PROGRAMMING
with the Apple's Core for beginners $49.95.
To learn more advanced programming, order
Part II: The Seed $59.95. Each program, con-
tains 2 teaching disks + an instructional man-
ual. Add $2 for shipping. Send check/MO
(COD accepted). Le Professeur, 959 NW 53rd
St., Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33309; (305) 771-6498.
MIKE O'TUTOR
Your own private tutor with the artificial in-
telligence to help you study any subject. You
provide the content. Mike O'Tutor helps you
study and makes up questions. Send $49.95 to
WilloughbyWare, RR 1, Box 304, Centerview,
MO 64019; (816) 732-5787.
ARENA! test your skill in the ARENA. A hi-
res assembly language aracade game. Don't let
the enemy (Fuzzy, Polly, Fuzzy jr.) get
through; each time you do, PULSAR, the mas-
ter will send out a mine to increase the hazards
of the ARENA. Your weapon is a single con-
trol, four-gun surround for Apple II, II + ,
IIe/48K, DOS 3.3 (requires joystick or paddle).
$29.95 postpaid to BORDER SOFTWARE,
BOX 66973, Ste. 1153, Houston, TX 77006.
Dealer inquiries welcome.
Publications
MINUTE MANUALS
Minute Manual for Apple Writer He $7.95
Minute Manual for Apple Writer n+ $7.95
Apple Writer Glossary Disk $14.95
Minute Manual for DB Master (Ver 3) $12.95
Data Disks (2) for MM for DB Master $9.95
Minute Manual for PFS: File/Report/Graph/
Write (avail, this month) $12.95
Send check and add $1 S/H; (301) 995-1166
MinuteWare, Box 2392, Columbia, MD 21045.
WHAT'S YOUR TIME WORTH?
Only $30/yr for source, brief abstract of thou-
sands of Apple II-relevant magazine refs from
USA, UK, Australia. Categorized and listed by
key words. Airmail update SIX times a year.
Articles, Utes, Progs, Reviews, etc, etc. THIS
WILL PLEASE THE SERIOUS USER. Send
$30 (U.S. or Australian) bank draft to
Daryl's Apple Digest, 26 Parslow St., Malvern,
Vic. 3144 Australia; tel +61-3-20-5950.
SOFTALK CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING
$2.95 HINT BOOKS. Coded clues,
maps, solutions: Quest, Infidel, Death Carib,
Witnes, Deadlin, Starcros, Transyl, Drk Crys,
Masquerad, Covet Mirr, Planetfall, Serp Star,
Ultma III, Suspended. All Zorks, Coloss Cave,
Enchanter, Sherwood, Mask Sun, Cranstn
Manor, Missn Astr, Softporn, Voodoo Cstl, Mys
House, Ulyses, Pirat Adv, Advland, or send 20C
stamp for free clue no oblig. Aspen Apple Soft-
ware, Dept S, Box 1962, Boulder, CO 80306.
MINUTE MANUAL For PFS:
FILE/REPORT/GRAPH/WRITE
Explains this integrated software system for
those who have one or more of these programs
and for those who want to find out about them.
Quick guide to over 50 step-by-step procedures.
Two tutorials for business and education. Many
procedures not found in original manual. $12.95
+ $1. MinuteWare, Box 2392, Columbia, MD
21045.
"SCREEN WRITER II MADE EASY"
"APPLE WRITER II MADE EASY"
"APPLE WRITER II
(for the lie) MADE EASY"
20 page "plain English" booklets. Formletters
included. Learn to use in one sitting. Specify.
Send $5.95 each post-paid (check or MO) to J.
Mandell, Box 7063, Charlottesville, VA 22906.
TIRED OF YOUR BORING GAMES?
Have you ever wished you could get rid of them
and trade them in for one of your favorites?
Well, your dreams have been answered! Write
to us requesting free information about our
game trading. United Apple Game Trades, Box
73-9, Long Beach, CA 90808.
APPLE GAME DISK EXCHANGE
Adventure games are great until solved. Arcade
games can become stale. Now exchange your
unwanted games for ones you would like to
play. WRITE FOR INFORMATION or SEND
your original manufacturer's disk, documenta-
tion, a list of five games for us to make your ex-
change from, and $5.50 to:
National Home Computer Game Exchange
Box 20285, Columbus, OH 43220.
**$1.00— FREE!!!
When you call
(219) 534-1012
Hoosier Software
Box 275, Goshen, IN 46526
THE LOWEST PRICES!
The lowest prices on games like Zaxxon and
Lode Runner. Also Mazetron for $11 .95. We
have it all. For games and price list write to
P-Soft, Box 354, El Segundo, CA 90245.
DISK EXCHANGE SERVICE
Not using that Utility? Tired of that Game? Ex-
change it! Send MANUFACTURER'S ORIGI-
NAL disk, instructions, etc. No duplicated disk
or photocopies accepted. Send disk with three to
five acceptable exchanges of equal dollar value
along with $6. postage and handling to
DES
Box 864930, Piano, TX 75086.
SAVE UP TO 50% ON
Floppy Disks
& Computer
Supplies
we Discount the Top Brands
3M-Scotch • verbatim*
Memorex • BASF • Maxell-
wabash
error-free
diskettes
$16.50/10 sssd
APPLE * DISK DRIVES
0ATADRIVE $ 2 2 9
APPLETTE I & II
(UTILIZES V2 HT DRIVES)
The Best In Price,
Selection and Delivery
SAKATA 13"0olor Monitor with
full-year warranty ... ^239
Apple PARALLEL PRINTER CARD
w/ 2-yr . warranty ,10' cable- ^49
KOALA PAD w/Illustrator . . . ^79 JM
Gold Disk
GOLD DISK*" Software
Box 102
Qlen Arm, Md. 21057
TOLL FREE i-aoo-36e-22eo FfeQ Ca
For specific software no! listed,
CALL 1-800-368-2260
-
TransPak I -;p299
lran^enu it.
TOLL FREE ORDER
1-600- 368 2260 (In Maryland. Call 592-^949)
.■
; Pen System tor
§ Apple II Computers
SUPER SOFTWARE SAVINGS
Dollars & Sense - $69.95
MasterType - $29.95
HomeWord - $49.95
PFS:File - $86.95
For a complete catalog of personal and small
business computer software and hardware at ex-
cellent prices, write: SBCC, Box 1191, Thou-
sand Oaks, CA 91360; (805) 492-9391.
Service Is Our Motto!
SOFTWARE SPECIALS!
Krell Logo Koala Pad
Word Attack! Think Tank
New Step by Step Enchanter
Just a sample of the over 50 programs on special
this month. All our other programs are at low,
low prices too. Call or write for our free price
list. Educators— ask for our special education
edition. Bytes & Pieces, Box 525, Dept. S, East
Setauket, NY 11733; (516) 751-2535.
SOFTWARE JUNKIE??
RENT today's most popular software: recrea-
tional and educational. Buy at 20% discount.
FREE brochure. The Soft Source-R Inc., Dept.
J, Box 2931, Joliet, IL 60434.
WE CAN'T AFFORD A BIG AD
Because we're keeping our overhead low so
you'll get the cheapest software prices. Write
for our free catalog. Alligator Enterprises, 1 105
Alameda, TX 78704; (512) 443-2621.
SAVE AT GOLEM COMPUTERS
Our **SOFTWARE** prices are lowest. We
carry business, education, and entertainment
software. All major brands are available. Call
for **FREE** catalog. (800) 345-8112. In
Pennsylvania (800) 662-2444.
LOW SOFTWARE PRICES!
Check our fantastic prices! Write for our
**FREE** price list! KERR SOFTWARE, box
5301-ST, Long Beach, CA 90805; (213) 428-
8193. Source: CL0854.
CANADIAN SOFTWARE RENTALS
RENT APPLE software including top selling
business programs and games. Rental is for a
2-WEEK period and prices are approx. 1/5 of
retail. For free catalog write: BIG BLUE SOFT-
WARE RENTALS (Canada), Box 15896 Sta-
tion F, Ottawa, Ont K2C 3S8.
TEXT FILE TUTORIAL
Step-by-step disk-based intro to sequential text
files on any Apple II. Teaches you to read,
write, use, EXEC. $25 (CA add tax). Send
check to Computer Explanations, 2438 La Con-
desa Dr., Los Angeles, CA 90049.
!! C COMPILER !!
A Compiler for only $49.95!!
Includes macro preprocessor, conditional com-
pilation, and more. . . . Major subset of C (no reals
or structures). Operates under Apple Pascal 1.1
(not included). Order today. Send $49.95 + $3
P&H to THUNDER SOFTWARE, Box 31501,
Houston, TX 77231; (713) 728-5501.
PASCAL 1.1/1.2 GOODIES
For the 11+ /lie: Program a key to type several
characters (function keys), use your APPLE
while it is printing (spooler), send what you see
on the screen to a file. $27.95. For the He: Turn
the extended 80-column card into a fast 126-
block RAMDISK drive, $19.95. Source in-
cluded! David Neves, 2801 Monroe St., -2e,
Madison, WI 53711; (608) 238-0020.
ASSYST: ASSEMBLER SYSTEM
Only $23.50. This mnemonic assembler is the
one for you! Free field programming, two pass
RAM/DISK assembly. A complete system w/24
p. book, screen style text editor, lister utility and
the assembler. Menu-driven. All for only
$23.50 + $3 P&H. Same-day shipping. Apple
II family 48K. Thunder Software, Box 31501,
Houston, TX 77231; (713) 728-5501. Order to-
day. C COMPILER for Apple Pascal $49.95.
Softalk's classified advertising section offers
a considerably less expensive way than normal
display advertising to reach tens of thousands of
Apple owners.
Classified advertising space is available at
the rate of $10 per line for the first ten lines,
with a five-line minimum. Each line over ten
lines is $25 per line.
Heads will be set in 10-point boldface, all
capitals only. Italics are available for body text
only; please underline the portions you would
like italicized.
The body text of the ad will hold roughly 45
characters per line. Spaces between words are
counted as one character. Heads will hold
roughly 24 characters per line, with spaces be-
tween words counted as one character. Please
indicate if you would like the head centered or
run into the text.
Display advertising may be placed in the
classified section at $100 per column inch; no
advertising agency commisions shall be granted
on such advertising. Ads must be black and
white, may be no larger than Vi -page, and must
fit within the three-column format.
Ad copy for classified ads and camera-ready
art for classified display advertising should be
received no later than the 10th of the second
month prior to the cover date of the issue in
which you want the ad to appear. Payment must
accompany ad copy or art.
Please call or write for additional infor-
mation.
Softalk Classified Advertising
7250 Laurel Canyon Boulevard
Box 60
North Hollywood, CA 91603
Attention: Linda McGuire Carter
(213) 980-5074
DMP Utilities
" ... does what Apple should have done for the DMP a year ai>o. "(Somuc, Ke»
• 24 custom fonts for your Apple DMP " or Imagewriter "printer.
• Full featured font editor supports proportional and variable width characters.
• User friendly selection of all printer features plus 60 page manual
$50 from your dealer or postage paid directly from us. Write for full hardware
character fonts, and additional information.
Apple Dot Matrix Printer. Imagewriter, and Apple are trademarks o* Apple Computer, Inc
ist, examples of
Vilbcrg Brothers Computing, PO Box 79, Mt. Horeb, WI 53572
(608) S74-6433 evenings or CompuServe 73765,124
SUPER TRACER II
A step-and-trace utility for Applesoft Basic.
Traces and displays actual statements and varia-
bles of programs while they are running. Com-
pletely transparent; does not interfere with
graphics, text display, DOS, or I/O commands.
$44.95. Nordic Software Inc., 4910 Dudley,
Lincoln, NE 68504; (402) 466-6502. Visa/MC
accepted.
PASCAL TEXT FORMATTER
Turn your UCSD Pascal Editor into a full-blown
professional word processor/report writer simi-
lar to the famous UNIX™ NROFF utility.
Justifies, centers text; multiline headers and
footers; automatic page and section numbering,
table of contents, and index generation. Not
copy protected! Send $85 (or Visa/MC) to DIG-
ITRY COMPANY, INC., 266 River Rd.,
Edgecomb, ME 04556.
NO MORE POKE 33,33
With DOS command EDIT, list any line, cursor
jumps to line number ready for editing. This and
many other DOS UTILITIES— change DOS
commands, free space on disk, auto patch to
DOS, INIT new DOS to other disks without
erasing, more. Also DISK-ZAP: read/write any
sector, CAT-ZAP: restore deleted files, more.
For n+ (48K) or He, $19.95. University Micro
Software, Box 723, Natick, MA 01760.
MATRIX II
Solve complex problems efficiently, and save
programming time! Adds fast matrix functions
to Applesoft: multiply, INV, DET, TRN, SYS,
& more. Easy to use. MATRIX II disk, tutorial
manual, & demo programs, $19.95. Apple
H+/48K or Be, DOS 3.3. LRS Systems, 810 N.
Seventh St., St. Charles, MO 63301.
ADVANCED PASCAL USERS!
Assembly Libraries: for Videx Videoterm & Ul-
traterm (all modes); at, set cursor, & attributes,
fielded screen reads, echo, rdscreen, slot3 . . .
EXTENSIONS: Str2int, xlate, verify, strip, addr,
word/byte peek/poke. Generalized QUICKSORT!
MORE . . . $40. For complete desc. send SASE
to RTSoftware, Box 674, Columbia, MD 21045.
UTILITY MAGICIAN
40 Programs/60 cents each. Change DOS com-
mands. Alphabetize the catalog. Autonumber
programs. Graphically display disk space use.
Recover deleted files. Compact disk files to save
space. Read, write, & edit disk contents. 32
other essential tools. PLUS a complete text file
and program line editor and a chart of 100 +
peeks, pokes, & calls. $24 postage paid. Kodiak
Associates, Box 2731, Decatur, AL 35602.
E-Z MENU MAKER
This is the best menu generator money can buy .
Make custom menus for all your DOS 3.3 disks
in seconds. E-Z MENU MAKER will generate
sorted menus from the disk catalog automatical-
ly. Upon booting, the menu will run, brun, or
exec any program with the touch of a key. Pro-
gram with instruction booklet is only $14.95.
NM res add 5 % tax. Send check or M/O to:
TIPS, Box 312-A, Hobbs, NM 88240.
CAULDRON LINE EDITOR
*Edit Applesoft programs fast
*User-modifiable keyboard macros
♦Global search and replace
♦Supports Apple n + , Be, Be 80-col.
Send $19.95 to Cauldron, Box 8227, S.M., KS
66208 (Kansas residents add $.91 sales tax).
FREE PASCAL CATALOG
Catalog of LOW cost ($5-$20) utilities. All with
SOURCE text. Includes print, file, input, sort,
& others. Kingdom Computer Concepts, Box
182, St. Johnsbury Ctr., VT 05863.
Word Processing
APPLE WRITER GLOSSARY DISK
Contains glossary files for Epson MX/FX,
Gemini 10/10X, Apple DMP/Imagewriter,
NEC, Prowriter, and Okidata. Access any print
command in Apple Writer 11+ or He with a
single keystroke. Underlining and superscripts
on Epson MX and Gemini, also Sub/Super-
scripts on Apple DMP $14.95 + $1 S/H.
MinuteWare, Box 2392, Columbia, MD 21045.
EPSON FX-80 GLOSSARY
FOR APPLE WRITER He
Confused about getting all the FX-80 print op-
tions to work when using Apple Writer Ilel Our
EPSON GLOSSARY makes it easy! Just load
the file and use a 1 -character command. Quality
disk comes with a glossary, sample AWII files,
manual, and free AWIIe "Cheat Sheet." $14.95
+ $1 shipping. (NYS sales add sales tax).
AEROCAL, Box 799, Huntington, NY 11743.
PROWRITER FONT GLOSSARY
FOR APPLE WRITER H/He
Control all the functions of your Prowriter, in-
cluding: double width, boldface, underline,
pica, elite, proportional compressed, super-
script, subscript. Use in any combination,
easily. $9.95— comes on disk, with complete in-
structions. Nerdworks, 195 23rd NE, Salem,
OR 97301; (503) 585-1373.
MAY 1984
tion sounded a lot more impressive than man-
ual. "Doc-yoo-men-tay-shun," he thought.
"Man-yoo-al. " Hmm. Five syllables versus
three. Better check this one out. Here's what he
heard:
"One of the most powerful features of Docu-
Writer is that it allows the user to move blocks
of text around the document at the touch of a
key. Of course, we at DocuSoft realize that
everyone is different, so that's why we made
each command key customizable by the user.
Now, it may take a little getting used to, but I
assure you that DocuWriter is state-of-the-art
word processing, offers ease of use, and is ex-
tremely user-friendly . ' '
The man walked away from this booth, too.
DocuWriter obviously wasn't for him. Based on
what the salesman said, it was probably for law-
yers, politicians, and government workers,
whose everyday work involves documents. It
probably wasn't for people who write letters,
school papers, business reports, and office
memorandums. Or was it?
Was there something magical about this
word processor that could turn a letter into a
document? He thought about it for a while.
"Whatcha doing, honey?"
"Oh, just writing a document to mom. She
says she just loves receiving documents from
me."
"How nice. That reminds me, did you see
the nice thank-you document we received from
the Gilmours? They said the blender we gave
them for their wedding had great ease of use."
Maybe he didn't need such a program. On
the other hand, if it did create documents, he
wouldn't need a lawyer anymore; he could just
boot up the program, and presto: documents.
If nothing else, at least it was end user-
friendly. He surmised that the term meant
"friendly to the user." What if a nonuser came
along and tried to run the program? That would
be a sight; friendly to one person, hostile and
belligerent to the next. None of this mattered,
though. He wasn't a user. If he were, he'd still
be back at the MondoSoft booth.
Across the aisle was a tiny booth that didn't
seem to be displaying any software, but little
Communications
The Stating
of the Art:
A User-Friendly
Document
Manufacturers producing floppies and friendly
documentation for usering often access confusing on
the way to ease of use.
At the West Coast Computer Faire last
March, a man stopped at one of the booths and
asked about the word processor on display.
Here's what he was told.
"One of the most powerful features of Mon-
doWriter is that it allows the user to move
blocks of text around the document at the touch
of a key. Of course, we at MondoSoft realize
that everyone is different, so that's why we
made each command key customizable by the
user. Now, it may take a little getting used to,
but I assure you that MondoWriter is state-of-
the-art word processing, offers ease of use, and
is extremely user-friendly . ' '
The man, who happened to be a human be-
ing and wished to remain one, walked away. He
didn't walk away because he was insulted or in-
timidated. He walked away because the product
was obviously not for him. It was for something
called a user. Whatever a user was, certainly he
was not one. The word sounded like it meant
"something that uses."
Last winter, the man's daughter was used by
some cradle robber at her high school. On pub-
lic television the night before, there was a spe-
cial about cocaine users. And that day, the man
could have used his car to get to the Faire, but
he drove it instead; otherwise, it might have
turned into a used car when he arrived. Nope,
he wasn't a user.
User isn't an insulting term, just an awk-
ward one. Computer enthusiasts don't often call
themselves users, but they don't mind being re-
ferred to as such. Computer clubs have names
like Mid Valley Apple Users Group, but you
don't hear people in singles bars say, "No kid-
ding, you're a user? Wow, I'm a user, too! Kar-
ma." They'll usually say something just as bad:
"I'm into computers," which ranks up there
with "I'm into aerobics. " (If a person who uses
computers is a user, does that mean a person
who does aerobics is a doer? Ugh.)
It's understandable for computer hobbyists
to call themselves users. But what is it that
makes writers of software manuals fall in love
with the word? There must be some inherent
satisfaction in writing sentences like, "The
function keys are user-definable," instead of
"You can change the function keys."
On top of all this are the hardware and soft-
ware producers who refer to their customers as
end users. They never do say who the front, be-
ginning, or middle users are. But that's okay,
just as long as their products are end user-de-
finable or end user-friendly. Which brings us
back to our man at the Faire.
MondoSoft wasn't satisfied with having a
product that was easy to use; its software devel-
opers added a feature to boast the fact— ease of
use. The man visiting the booth assumed this
meant the program wasn't hard to use. The
toaster he bought the other day wasn't hard to
use either, but it didn't have ease of use. A
smart shopper would have noticed that immedi-
ately and looked for a toaster that had it. It was
hard for the man to believe that some software
had ease of use, while nothing else had diffi-
culty of use. "Ease of use," he mumbled to
himself. If a product didn't feature those three
words, it wasn't worth buying.
At the next booth the man met a slick-
looking salesman with a forty-dollar haircut,
nice shoes, and a suit that was cut too big.
"If you have any questions," the salesman
said, "just take a look at our user-friendly docu-
mentation." There was that word again.
Now the man was confused. All the software
he had at home came with manuals. Here was
one that actually had documentation. He wasn't
sure what the difference was, but documenta-
wooden boxes instead. This looked like a safe
booth to visit.
"Hi, we're Disk Philes, and we manufac-
ture storage boxes for your floppies. Each box
accommodates up to thirty floppies and can be
expanded to hold increments of fifteen flop-
pies."
So much for safe. Whatever a floppy was,
he didn't have any. He had floppy disks, but
nothing called floppies. Only later did he realize
the woman at the booth meant floppy disk when
she said floppy. He didn't need such a box, but
it did remind him to pick up some legals and
scratches from the stationery store on his way
home. May as well get some fountains, felts,
and ballpoints that write in erasable, too.
The man avoided entirely the Word-for-
Word booth, which was exhibiting diskettes. He
didn't need any diskettes, because he didn't
have a diskette drivette. Diskettes, he figured,
must have gotten their name because they're
smaller than industrial-sized eight-inch disks.
So what does that make the 3 1/2-inch ones that
go with Apple's Macintosh? Diskettettes?
It was time to go. On the way out, the man
was stopped by someone handing out pamphlets
describing a "new state-of-the-art product."
Thank goodness for that. If there's anything the
computer world doesn't need, it's old state-of-
the-art products. Maybe that should be former
state of the art or state of the old art. Most of the
exhibitors at the Faire said their products were
state of the art. If that were true, every product
would 've been as good as every other one. And
that obviously wasn't true.
According to the person handing out the
pamphlets, the product was a "state-of-the-art
business package" that offered spreadsheet, da-
tabase, and word processing capabilities in one
program, on a single disk.
The state of the artfulness of the program
was that "all programs reside in memory at
once, reducing the necessity of having to access
the disk."
"Is this true?" he asked the woman with the
pamphlets.
"Yes; the program accesses the disk only
for data retrieval. It never needs to access the
program disk."
As the man walked out the door (or accessed
the exit), he thought to himself, "Access the
disk." Was that like combinationing a lock,
oven mittening a pot, and drivewaying the ga-
rage? It gave him something to think about as he
free way ed, avenued, and streeted home.
He forgot to stop at the cleaners to pick up
his monogrammeds. —Matthew Yuen
Systems
DOS: Apple's
Unsung Champion
It 's popular to knock DOS, but Woz 's elegant,
powerful workhorse keeps surprising us.
Wilt Chamberlain sounded a plaintive note
last month when Kareem Abdul-Jabbar broke
his all-time NBA scoring record. He pointed out
that nobody made any hoopla over his record
while he was setting it and that it was only one
of dozens that he holds.
Chamberlain also bewailed the general con-
sensus that Bill Russell was a better player than
he, asserting that if rebounding records had
been kept during his career, he'd lead in that
category and he might even lead in blocked
shots.
It was kind of bemusing to watch Chamber-
lain make a valiant attempt to be a good sport
about his record being broken. But even with
that record gone, nobody thinks Chamberlain is
the Rodney Dangerfield of professional basket-
ball.
There are lots of parallels to Chamberlain's
situation of being relatively unappreciated. Bea-
trice spent millions of dollars on advertising
during the Winter Olympics to raise the con-
sciousness of the populace to the parent com-
pany of such famous brand names as Samsonite.
The Apple II computer has its own valuable
but reasonably unappreciated player. It's the
disk operating system, known as DOS. For
those of you new to computing, that sounds like
floss and not like gross. What DOS does is in-
struct the computer how to store and retrieve
files from the disk. Lots of folks like to put the
knock on DOS. It's too slow, it's too limited, it
can't do sophisticated tasks.
Apple itself seems to have sided to some de-
gree with the critics by bringing out ProDOS,
which is theoretically a stronger, more versatile
operating system that will aid business applica-
tion developers. In addition, it will recognize
Apple in data files.
But for those of us who have come to know
and love DOS, all this criticism is just so much
misplaced bushwa. The number of programs
that got their start under DOS is too long to in-
clude, but start with VisiCalc, DB Master,
Home Accountant, MasterType, Ultima III,
Choplifter, and Sargon. That's an incredible
range of product, both in complexity of effort
and in diversity of application, that all function
under DOS.
DOS was the brainchild of Steve Wozniak.
It's told that Wozniak labored twenty-four
straight hours on the project, after which it was
essentially what you see today. That's probably
apocryphal, but it's too good a story to debunk.
If you think Apple DOS is slow, try a com-
parable program on the Commodore 64. If you
think DOS is unsophisticated, try some of your
favorite tricks on an Atari 800. If you think MS-
DOS is the bee's knees, ponder the benchmark
test published in Interface Age, when a typical
set of accounting functions took twice as long
on the IBM Personal Computer.
Softalk processed its circulation records on
Apple II computers for the first thirty months of
its existence. When the time came to change
over to a minicomputer, the circulation list was
157,000 records strong. It was no fun to handle
that many records on the Apple II , but with the
help of three hard disks, it was possible.
A look at the print program that generated
four-up Cheshire labels for Softalk' s monthly
mailing gives an indication of the complexity
available under the DOS umbrella.
When the print program was run, three aux-
iliary data files were opened. One read into
memory the list of circulation codes that were
current. A second file, which was read as the
printing progressed, listed all single zip codes in
which there were six or more subscribers. A
third file, likewise read progressively during
the run, listed all multiple zip-code cities in
which there were six or more subscribers.
In addition, of course, the program walked
across more than three hundred data files that
were strung out across three hard disks.
As the program worked, it would look at the
code in each record, compare it to the list read
into memory, and make a print or no-print
determination. If the determination was made to
print the record, the codes were analyzed to de-
termine if a legend should be written on the la-
bel (many of you first received Softalk with a
legend stating that your subscription was spon-
sored by your local retail store or by a software
publisher). Then the zip code was compared
against both the single zip-code file and the mul-
tiple zip-code file to determine if the printed la-
bel should be marked as belonging in one or
both of those categories.
Once that determination was made, the label
was printed to paper and the zip code of the la-
bel was incremented by one in a file that was be-
ing created as printing took place. The end out-
put consisted of the mailing labels and a DOS
text file containing a listing of the number of
copies sent to each zip code.
The DOS text file was then converted to an
Apple in file, and postal reports were generated
using data stored on a ProFile hard disk.
The point of all this is the complexity of the
overall effort. An Apple II was capable of print-
ing different data to two different output devices
while reading simultaneously from three files
and holding a fourth file in memory.
How fast was it? The Apple II had to wait
for an Epson 100. When it was linked to a high-
speed serial printer (a Printronix six-hundred-
line-per-minute printer), it could drive the print-
er at about one hundred fifty lines per minute.
The print program was the genius of Ken
Williams of Sierra On-Line, who threw it off in
about twelve hours and spent about four hours
subsequently smoothing it out.
That's one of the beauties of DOS; it's easy
to understand and easy to implement for those
reasonably conversant with its intricacies. And
it's certainly versatile enough for most applica-
tions.
We all appreciate the special genius Wozni-
ak demonstrated in designing the Apple II . Now
it's time to pay homage to his efforts in creating
DOS. It's a marvelous tool— versatile and un-
complicated.
The line's been stolen so many times that the
author has passed into anonymity. But it could
just as well have been written about DOS as the
other products to which it's been applied.
Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.
—Al Tommervik
BEACH LANPIN6 I
WleeklyReader m
Family Software 1
A division of Xerox Education Publications
Middletown.CT 06457
Beach landing is a registered trademark of Optimum Resource. Inc
Apple is a registered trademark oi Apple Computer. Inc. Atari is a
32
mum
MAY 1984
Tips
A Simple Trick
To Improve
dBase Formats
How to get cleaner reports when using the well-known
CP/M relational database.
dBase II can be a very powerful database
management system. The basic structure of the
program is simple. To create a database, you
enter the name of the field, the number of
characters in that field, and the type of field
(numeric, character, or logical). If necessary,
enter the number of decimal places for each ap-
propriate field.
The report formats are also simple. For each
column of data, you enter the width of the col-
umn, the field name, and the heading for that
particular column.
Because dBase II is so simple, it's limited.
As a result, the majority of its users resort to
programming. By writing programs and inte-
grating them with the original database, users
make the program limitless.
Programming can be fun and productive if
you're interested in it and have some program-
ming experience. But if you aren't a program-
mer and aren't inclined to be one, how do you
get what you want out of the program and the
database?
There are commands in dBase II that can
work wonders for you. Consider one of the
most common problems experienced in dBase,
that of column headings. A work report from
Hot Air Appliance Repair illustrates this.
There are basically four matters of concern
here: The column headings are not neat, but
sloppy and nonconforming; the column heads
are too close together; extra lines have been in-
serted between some of the column headings
and the underlining; and the headings do not ap-
pear to be centered above the text.
This report was not the result of a user error.
You can get the same results by following the
directions in the dBase II manual. That is per-
haps what makes it so frustrating: You're doing
exactly what you should do, but the results are
horrendous.
But take heart. There is a solution— without
programming.
Log on to dBase II, set the default to B if
necessary, and enter:
CREATE SAMPLE
COL NAME.TYPE.WIDTH, DECIMAL PLACES
001 DATE:RPT,C,8
002 DATE:SVC,C,8
003 EQUIPMENT, C, 15
004 PROBLEM, C, 20
005 TECHNICIAN, C, 10
006 WORK, C, 20
007 FOLLOW:UP,C,15
008 < RETURN >
This gives a sample database to illustrate the re-
port commands necessary for generating the
beautiful report you want. If you enter the
records shown in Hot Air's report, you'll be
able to print out a sample report after com-
pleting the following exercise.
After adding the records, press control-W
simultaneously to save the records and return to
the dot prompt. Then type:
REPORT FORM FIGURE2 TO PRINT
You'll have a chance to change the left
margin, the number of lines per page, or the
width of the report. For the moment, type:
W = 120
PAGE HEADING?(Y/N) Y
ENTER PAGE HEADING: FIGURE 2
DOUBLE SPACE REPORT?(Y/N) N
ARE SUBTOTALS REQUIRED?(Y/N) N
Now you can enter the information required
to create the first column. There are three prob-
lems with this column in Hot Air's original re-
port: The heading isn't centered, there's an
extra line in between the heading and the
underlining, and the whole thing's too close to
the next column. To correct these problems, we
must understand why they occurred.
In fact, the heading is centered— but over the
whole column rather than just the text. It ap-
pears off-center because all the text is flush left.
Because it's easier to change the format of the
heading than that of the text, we'll trick our
eyes into thinking the heading is centered by
making it flush left, too. This is accomplished
by using the less than ( < ) when entering the
heading.
The reason for the extra line between the
heading and the underlining is simple. There
are eight characters in the field. There are also
eight characters in the word reported. Whenev-
er the title uses all the character spaces allowed
in its field, the program automatically sends a
carriage return to the printer. The situation is
easily remedied by lengthening the field.
Lengthening the field solves the third prob-
lem by widening the space between the col-
umns. The number of characters you add to the
field is up to you. For this example, use two
spaces. At the prompt, type:
DATE DATE OF
REPORTED SERVICE
1/20/84
1/20/84
1/21/84
1/22/84
1/22/84
1/23/84
1/25/84
1/25/84
EQUIPMENT PROBLEM
DRYER NOT DRYING
REFRIGERATOR NOT COOLING
WASHER
NO HOT WATER
REFRIGERATOR NOT COOLING
NAME OF
TECHNICIAN
WORK
PERFORMED
HAMMEL CLEANED FILTER
BROWN PART ORDERED
SMITH UNCLOGGED H/W FILTER
HAYES NEEDS NEW REFRIG.
Figure 1. Hot Air Appliance Repair, Inc.
FOLLOW-UP
NONE
1/25/84
NONE REQUIRED
NONE
DATE DATE OF
REPORTED SERVICE EQUIPMENT
PROBLEM
1/20/84 1/22/84 DRYER NOT DRYING
1/20/84 1/23/84 REFRIGERATOR NOT COOLING
1/21/84 1/25/84 WASHER NO HOT WATER
1/22/84 1/25/84 REFRIGERATOR NOT COOLING
NAME OF
TECHNICIAN
HAMMEL
BROWN
SMITH
HAYES
WORK
PERFORMED
CLEANED FILTER
PART ORDERED
UNCLOGGED H/W FILTER
NEEDS NEW REFRIG.
FOLLOW-UP
NONE
1/25/84
NONE REQUIRED
NONE
Figure 2. Cool Breeze Appliance Repair, Inc.
The Be
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NEW from Standard & Poor's -
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TEAM UP WITH STOCKPAK II-
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0 F T A L K #
35
COL WIDTH, FIELD
001
and enter:
10,DATE:RPT < RETURN >
For the heading, enter:
<DATE;REPORTED;
< RETURN >
The system automatically breaks between
the words date and reported, because it
recognizes that both words won't fit on the
same line within the allotted character spaces.
You also want the underlining to be printed on a
separate line, so you must send a command to
the printer to indicate this.
The semicolon (;) performs this function.
Whenever the system encounters a semicolon, it
commands the printer to perform a carriage re-
turn. To ensure that the report appears the way
you want, place semicolons wherever you de-
sire carriage returns. The semicolon between
the words date and reported ensures consisten-
cy from one report to the next; the one between
reported and the dashes ensures that the word
reported will be underlined.
Enter the less than sign ( < ) as the first
character of a heading to indicate that all
characters following on the same line should be
flush left. This is the same line as the command,
not necessarily the same line on the report.
Now let's enter the second column:
002 10,DATE:SVC < RETURN >
HEADING: < DATE OF;SERVICE;
< RETURN >
You enter this column in the same manner as
the first one for virtually the same reasons.
Entering the width of the field as ten characters
instead of eight leaves two additional blank
spaces between this column and the next one.
The heading is flush left (the less than sign), and
the semicolons indicate carriage returns, ensur-
ing that the title encompasses three lines.
If you were to print out these two fields right
now, you'd see that the underlining appears on
the same line. However, the next column has a
unique problem.
The third column only encompasses two
lines: the word equipment on one line and the
underlining on the second line. If you enter the
third column like the first and second, the
underlining will be uneven. This is unaccept-
able.
Again, the solution is simple. Merely use the
semicolon to enter a carriage return before the
heading begins. Type the information:
003 17, EQUIPMENT <RETURN>
HEADING:< ;EQUIPMENT;
< RETURN >
The field width is now lengthened by two
characters just as in the first two columns. The
less than sign indicates that the title is to be flush
left. The semicolon sends a carriage return to
the printer, ensuring that the word equipment is
placed on the same line as reported and service
and that the underlining for column 3 is on the
same line as for columns 1 and 2.
Enter the fourth column just like the third:
004 22, PROBLEM < RETURN >
HEADING: <;PROBLEM;
< RETURN >
The next column presents the same problem
as the first one. Because the word technician is
ten characters and the width of the field is also
ten characters, an extra carriage return is in-
serted. Again, lengthen the field width. Since
the heading will encompass three lines, no
preceding semicolons are necessary. Enter:
005 12.TECHNICIAN < RETURN >
HEADING: < NAME OF;TECHNICIAN;
< RETURN >
Enter the sixth and seventh columns like col-
umns three and four:
006 22.WORK < RETURN >
HEADING: < ;WORK PERFORMED;
< RETURN >
007 15, FOLLOW: UP < RETURN >
HEADING: < ;FOLLOW-UP;
< RETURN >
The last field needs no additional character
spaces because it's the last column. Press return
at column 008 and the report should begin to
print.
The report should look like Cool Breeze Ap-
pliance Repair's report.
You can experiment with underlining,
semicolons, and heading formats to produce the
reports you require.
Underlining, for instance, does not have to
end at the last character of the title, but can con-
tinue for the width of the field. Just remember
not to place a character in the last character
space of the field or you'll get that unwanted
carriage return.
You can use semicolons in text to ensure
carriage returns. For instance, if you're adding
records and entering information in a long field
(such as a description), you may want a single
phrase to stand out. By entering a semicolon
before and after that phrase, you'll be placing it
on a line by itself when the report prints.
Since text is always flush left, it's usually
best to make the column titles flush left too.
However, numbers are always flush right, and,
unless the title is flush right also, it won't ap-
pear to be in the same column. Make titles flush
right by entering the greater than sign ( > ). For
a description field, you may wish to center the
heading.
To modify this sample report, type:
.MODIFY COMMAND FIGURE2.FRM
The suffix, .FRM, must appear after the file
name in order to modify a report. When the re-
port appears on the screen, you scroll to the line
you wish changed and alter it with the same edit
keys you'd use to edit records.
Through simple commands, the report
generator becomes a much more powerful tool.
Without programming. —Trish McClelland
Business
Happiness Is an
Overworked
Computerholic
The results of De-war's study of people in the
computer industry might cause lines in its personnel
offices— if it had personnel offices.
I'm not a drinker. My forays into the realm
of hard liquor have left me sick and exhausted
and repentant and in debt.
My only connection with the Dewar's com-
pany, makers of Dewar's White Label Scotch,
is a series of magazine advertisements known as
Dewar's Profiles, which depict interviews of
young successful professionals and determine
why it is that they do such and such and how
compatible their lives are with Scotch.
Dewar's profiles are expanding. The com-
pany has begun a series of booklets known as
"The Dewar's Profiles of Americans at
Work," based on interviews of members of
various professions. One report in the series
was entitled "Dewar's Career Profile: Com-
puter Professionals," and the findings are
worth examining.
The Dewar's report focuses on "six differ-
ent types of computer professionals": educators,
systems analysts, computer programmers, data
processing consultants, entrepreneurs, and com-
puter sales or marketing personnel. Among the
more interesting findings is that 70 percent of
those interviewed said they are "very satisfied"
with their jobs, 24 percent are "somewhat satis-
fied," and only 6 percent were either "not very
satisfied" or "very dissatisfied."
In addition, the Dewar's profile groups com-
puter professionals into three work types— com-
puterholics (a dicey term for somebody in the
liquor business), overtimers, and nine-to-fivers.
The largest group is the overtimers, who com-
prised 57 percent of those responding. They are
described as those who work forty-one to forty-
nine hours per week, occasionally on
weekends. The next largest group is the com-
puterholics, defined as those who work at least
fifty hours per week and frequently work on
weekends. They comprised 22 percent of those
polled.
Upon reviewing these two sets of statistics,
it is apparent that, while nearly 80 percent of
people who work with computers work more
than forty hours per week, most people who
work with computers are very satisfied with
their jobs. Sure, you say, of course: If you like
your job you're willing to work overtime.
If they simply liked their jobs more than
they might like other jobs, it would explain why
they have the jobs they do, why they stay in the
jobs they do for long periods of time, and even
36
MAY 1984
why they will go to lengths to keep their jobs-
including working some overtime. But so many
computer professionals put in so much overtime
that they can't just be doing jobs they prefer to
other jobs. They must prefer their jobs to their
non-work-related activities. Many work over-
time not because they have to do so to get the
job done, but because they like what they are
doing more than they like doing other things.
The respondents were asked how greatly
they value their leisure time. The majority— 55
percent — said their leisure time was very impor-
tant. But if they place such a high value on their
leisure time, why don't they take more of it?
The Dewar's poll further asked what rewards
they seek in their leisure-time activities. Relaxa-
tion was the most common response. Every-
body has to sleep sometime.
Okay, that's an exaggeration, but the point
is that computer professionals are finding many
of life's rewards in their work, and when they
are not working they are more than likely just
relaxing rather than pursuing some demanding
hobby or developing an athletic expertise.
Job satisfaction is subjective; the Dewar's
report factors satisfaction into halves: work ex-
perience (what happens at work, not work
history) and expectations brought to the job. As
far as expectations go, people who work with
computers by and large know what they are get-
ting into before they get into it. Computer sci-
ence courses in colleges are legendary for being
time-consuming. Patience and a willingness to
work overtime are bred in such classes — or per-
haps it's just that those without the required pa-
tience and enthusiasm are weeded out and en-
couraged to investigate liberal arts fields. When
students of computer science are finally em-
ployed, they expect to work a lot.
For expectations concerning career advance-
ment, Dewar's reports that 54 percent of those
polled are "at least as far along as expected"
when they began their careers, and 28 percent
are "even further along." That comes to 82
percent who are at least as successful as they ex-
pected to be.
Work experience is broken down by Dewar's
as the product of "meaningfulness, responsi-
bility, and knowledge of results." No argu-
ment, but do meaningfulness, responsibility,
knowledge of results, acceptable career growth,
and fulfilled expectations fully explain why
computer professionals are long-working and
satisfied people? Or is something more in-
volved?
An economist would say yes, money. In-
deed, there have been instances of computer
scientists turning out unbelievably advanced
ideas or products and reaping equally unbelieva-
ble rewards. Computer money is like entertain-
ment money— sports money, movie money, that
kind of thing— it is highly visible but hard to get
a hold of. If computer scientists and business-
people went into computer fields strictly for the
money, most of them would have given up by
now. Although people in computer-related pro-
fessions are generally assured of a comfortable
income — even those who work forty or fewer
hours a week— they have no assurance of
wealth. Their overtime is not motivated by
money.
If money has any involvement at all, it is that
the computer profession has enough money
available to investigate new avenues, try new
tactics, enjoy the childishness of secrecy. Peo-
ple in computer fields often have the resources
to do what they've always wanted to do in their
garages but could not afford. Which raises the
interesting point that many computer profes-
sionals are doing at work what they would other-
wise be doing at home as a hobby, and that
many nonprofessionals are just as devoted to
their avocational computing.
There is a last factor, however, that perhaps
best explains the results of the Dewar's profile,
and, in addition, helps to explain why computer
amateurs — hobbyists, hackers, gamers, and gen-
eral muckers-about— can't wait to get home
from their forty hours a week and put forty
more in on their computers: play.
Computers— especially micros— are fun.
They are fun to work with because they repre-
sent such a leap over the tools that used to be so
prevalent. They provide an avenue for great in-
ventiveness because they are new — for comput-
er applications, imagination is the only limit. In
some ways that has always been the message of
the magazine you are reading.
Computers bring the fun of toys to the work-
place. They are like Tinker Toys or Erector
Sets— they represent an almost limitiess poten-
tial. Devise a simpler user interface; draw a bet-
ter hi-res picture; create a better sound. Make it
faster, give it a better memory, sell it for less.
Computer scientists and businesspeople thrive
on challenge. Give them a problem and stand
back. Or risk becoming part of the solution;
they'll use whatever's at hand.
Fantasies come alive in the computer indus-
try. Images of recluses working singly for long
hours, cloistered in darkened offices poring
over cryptic mathematic formulas or sounding
the depths of language intricacies in order to
devise a better game are not only common, they
are true.
Also, because it is young and because it
sprang forth in California, the microcomputer
industry is fun. The competition makes such
childlike things as secrecy and espionage possi-
ble. For example, a feeling of electricity
sparked the air just before Apple unveiled the
Macintosh.
In his book on stimulating creativity in the
business environment, A Whack on the Side of
the Head, Roger van Oech writes, "I've no-
ticed that a fun working environment is much
more productive than a routine environment.
People who enjoy their work will come up with
more ideas. The fun is contagious, and every-
body works harder to get a piece of that fun."
Dewar's quotes Ed Young, a systems
development manager at National Advanced
Systems and one of their respondents, under the
heading of "Personal Motivation: Career Goals
and Rewards": "I like the instantaneous grati-
fication of computers, and they also fit in with
my desire to build things." It almost sounds
like some kid evaluating an involvement with
blocks.
Darwin Scott, another Dewar's respondent,
says, "It's a fuzzy boundary for me between
work and nonwork. I do computer-related ac-
tivities with friends." Work and play fall to-
gether for Scott. If he spends upward of forty
hours a week at work, the reason is apparent.
How about for the more famous computer
professionals? Does play explain their devotion
and intensity?
In his introduction to von Oech's book, No-
lan Bushnell, the founder of Atari, writes,
IF YOU OWN AN APPLE COMPUTER,
YOU'VE GOT CONNECTIONS AT CHEMICAL BANK.
Connections you can use to do
most of your banking right in your
own living room.
Introducing PRONTO,® the home
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PRONTO offers money manage-
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With PRONTO, you can check
your balance, or check which checks
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Pay bills to over 400 merchants
and services.
Or transfer money from one ac-
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And no matter what kind of
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it's strictly your business.
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Or come into any one of our 260
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THE HOME BANKING
SYSTEM FROM CHEMICAL BANK.
38
mum
MAY 1984
turn DOT MATRIX
INTO A DAISY . . -
(B rand new! Now I
can turn GEMINI
as well as EPSON
printers into
\a daisy!
with the NicePrint Card
(formerly SUPER-MX Card)
for the Apple II, II+, or He.
The standard of printing excellence is
the daisy-wheel printer. The NicePrint
interface card improves EPSON or
GEMINI printers so they have just about
the same quality print as the daisy-wheels!
And this high quality is easily available
to all Apple software, even copy-pro-
tected diskettes.
Here is a sample o-f
d d t. m a t r i ;•; p r i n t. i n g „
Change it into a daisy
with NicePrint!
Four optional font styles are available
in addition to the standard Roman font
shown above that simply plug into the
card:
Letter Gothic, ORATOR
LARGE* Scru.pt Sty£e,
and <01Ab English".
All fonts can have
under 1 ine 9 boldface,
italics, wide ,
suPER/SUB-scripts ,
pica, elite, and condensed.
BETTER THAN GRAPPLER!
The NicePrint card has all the Apple
Hi-Res graphic dump commands that
the Grappler has including: double
dumps (both pages side by side), dump
from page 1 or 2, double size, empha-
sized, rotated, strip chart recorder
mode, and text screen dump.
Spies Laboratories
(pronounced "speez")
P.O. Box 336
Lawndale, CA 90260
(213) 538-8166
Apple II is a TM of Apple Computer. Inc.
Grappler is a TM of Orange Micro. Inc.
"Personally, I believe that innovation is a lot of
fun. This is what has motivated me to try the
various things I've done. You see, I love to
build. . . . The creative aspects of how some-
thing is put together, whether it's a toy bridge,
or an array of integrated circuits, or a new com-
pany, really excite me." Later in the introduc-
tion he writes, "I've also found that innovative
people have a passion for what they do."
Steve Jobs is the renowned model of the ca-
pricious child-chairman.
Bert Kersey, programmer and president of
Beagle Bros, seemingly runs his company like
an afterschool clubhouse, complete with
mascot.
Mark Pelczarski likes to draw.
Steve Wozniak builds things in garages and
throws money away at rock concerts.
Dave Gordon— well, Dave Gordon.
Al Tommervik takes naps.
To suggest that these computer industry lead-
ers are children is insulting. To say that they
know how to have fun like children, to lose
themselves to enthusiasm like children, to study
minutiae and dream of universes the way chil-
dren preoccupy themselves with such matters is
to pay them the compliment of carrying the
richness of play into the adult world. Computer
professionals stop and smell the roses. And pull
off the petals and stab one another repeatedly
with the thorns and play in the mud and have
water fights and look for bugs. The computer
industry has room for inventiveness, unortho-
doxy, tears, fears, laughter, secretiveness, es-
pionage, petty jealousy, games— it has room for
fun.
In a product brochure, Datamost Software
came up with this line: "Lucky for you we
didn't listen to our mothers when they begged
us to get real jobs."
I think that sums up the explanation for the
Dewar's profile. It also explains why I am not a
drinker: Scotch clashes with my chocolate milk.
—Todd Zilbert
Lifestyles
Priming Your
Original Computer
Hold on! Relax. And don 't bother typing this program
into your Apple.
Working with computers makes things easy
beyond speeding up work and providing
magical diversion.
It's so easy to forget our bodies— to awaken
after a spell to realize that our necks are
cricked, stomachs growling, or hands cramped.
According to the National Institute of Oc-
cupational Safety and Health, computer entry is
the number one most stressful profession— even
more stressful than air traffic controlling. Peo-
ple who work long periods before a computer
complain of a host of symptoms ranging from
eyestrain, carpal tunnel syndrome (in the
hands), backaches, and CRT radiation-related
problems. In addition, psychologically related
symptoms include alienation/detachment from
people ("hackers' syndrome"), impatience
with ambiguity (rejection of the existence of
mixed feelings, pressure to be always logi-
cal and decisive), and fear/ resentment of the
machine.
Remember, you are in control. GSI, GSO,
or, as they say in Silicon Valley, "Good Stuff
In, Good Stuff Out."
Here is a program to take care of the most
important element in the system— you.
10 REM PROGRAM FOR HUMAN
PRODUCTIVITY
20 REM AND SATISFACTION
30 REM IN PSYCHOPHYSICAL BASIC
40 NEW
50 GOTO 200
100 REM SUBROUTINE: "TIME
OUT/RENEWAL"
110 HOME: CLOSE EYES
120 M = PEEK (INSIDE): BREATHE DEEP
130 RELAX HANDS ON LAP
140 FEEL HANDS (HEAVY, WARM,
TINGLING)
150 IF NOT RELAXING THEN GOTO 110
160 SPREAD RELAXATION TO LEGS
170 SPREAD RELAXATION TO TORSO
180 GENTLY RETURN
200 REM PROGRAM: "AUTOGENICS:
SILENTLY TALKING TO SELF WHILE
BREATHING"
210 FORX = 1T0 3: INHALE: PRINT "I am
becoming";: EXHALE: PRINT "...more
and more relaxed and alert with every
breath."
220 NEXT X: REM REPEAT THREE TIMES
230 FOR Y = 1 TO 3: INHALE: PRINT "I am
letting go";: EXHALE: PRINT "...of
excessive tensions, worries, and fears."
240 NEXT Y: REM REPEAT THREE TIMES
250 FOR R = 1 TO 3: INHALE: PRINT "I am
becoming";: EXHALE: PRINT " more
and more confident and creative all the
time."
260 NEXT R: REM REPEAT THREE TIMES
270 FOR B = 1 TO 3: INHALE: PRINT "My
breathing is becoming smoother and
deeper";: EXHALE: PRINT "...and I am
becoming even more relaxed."
280 NEXT B: REM REPEAT THREE TIMES
300 CALL RELAXATION MONITOR
310 IF NOT RELAXING THEN GOSUB 100
320 END
Psychophysical Basic runs slowly, at first.
With running (practice), the program is auto-
matically compiled into Biomachine Language
(habit).
Many other subroutines are available and
may be included to release accumulated muscle
tension, prevent CRT eyestrain, and ergonomi-
cally increase creativity and user's friendli-
ness. —Robert Pater
aiarisoft;
All tM hits your Apple
HE
FROM W
ATARISOFT
MOON PATROL *TJ
JUNGLE HUNT
BATTLEZONE
ATARISOFT
APPLE II
POLE POSITION
GALAXIAN
STARGATE
DONKEY KONG
DEFENDER
DIG DUG
CENTIPEDE
ROBOTRON:2084
PAC-MAN
is missing.
If you thought you'd never find fun games for your
hardworking Apple, happy days are here. Because now
ATARISOFT brings you great arcade hits never before seeni
on your Apple screen.
Pick from Pac-Man,1 Donkey Kong- by Nintendo;
Centipede?" Defender/ Joust? Jungle Hunt; Moon Patrol?
Pole Position? Galaxian,1 Ms. Pac-Man,1 and Battlezone™ >
So dust off your joystick (or if you don't have a stick, you
can play with a flick of your fingers on your keyboard) and
ask your dealer for all the ATARISOFT hits. The software your
hardware's been waiting for.
Apple is a registered trademark of Apple Computer, Inc This software is manufactured by ATARI, Inc tor use on the Apple II computer
and is not made, sponsored, authorized or approved by Apple Computer, Inc 1 Trademarks of Bally Mfg Co Sublicensed to ATARI,
Inc. by Namco-America, Inc 2 Trademarks and © Nintendo 1981 , 1983 3 Trademarks and © Williams 1980, 1982. manufactured
under license from Williams Electronics. 4. Trademark and © of Taito America Corporation 1982. 5 Engineered and designed by
Namco Ltd., manufactured under license by ATARI Inc Trademark and © Namco 1982 Atari* O A Warner
Communications Co. © 1984 ATARI Inc. All rights reserved.
EXEC
APPLE COMPUTER
INTERNATIONAL:
CHEZ PARIS
41
Our intention is not to put a wire into people 's heads and hook
them up to a database.
— Mike Spindler, Apple's vice president
and general manager, Europe
There was a time not long ago when the prospect of an Ameri-
can phenomenon called the hamburger gaining acceptance in the
culinary paradise called Paris seemed about as likely as D'Arta-
gnan becoming one of the queen's most trusted champions in the
first few chapters of The Three Musketeers. And yet, though
hamburgers are not the meal of preference for the average Pari-
sian, they have for the most part gone the way of D'Artagnan and
found their way into the heart of many a Frenchman.
Hamburgers and personal computers, of course, are not often
thought of as similar, but in the never-to-be-outguessed game of
European marketing of American products, they share certain
characteristics. The most obvious similarity is the time-lag factor.
Europeans take great pride in their ability to cook good food, pos-
sibly the best food in the world. It'll take time for them to get
used to the idea of forsaking the usual blanquette de veau for even
an occasional Big Mac.
Likewise they have done without personal computers for the
last two thousand years. But just as hamburgers have found a
home on the avenue des Champs-Ely sees and the boulevard St.
Germain, so has a personal computer brand called Apple marched
through the Arc de Triomphe on its way to widespread accep-
tance in the homeland of Lafayette and Victor Hugo. And as the
Allied forces knew when they landed on the beach at Normandy,
the liberation of Europe starts best on French soil.
An American Computer Company in Paris. Located on the
rue de Chartres in Neuilly-sur-Seine, just outside Paris, Apple
Computer International is the strategic planning center for Ap-
ple's efforts in Europe. Though the office is a stone's throw from
the avenue Charles de Gaulle, which becomes the avenue de la
Grande Armee at Porte Maillot and then the avenue des Champs-
Elysees at the Arc de Triomphe, it is technically outside the city
limits of Paris.
The purpose of Apple Computer International is to provide a
centralized sales and marketing force for the introduction of new
products and the formulation of Apple's basic European strate-
gies. Apple Computer International, in its role as strategic head-
quarters for all of Europe, handles the introduction of a product
and the setting up of initial marketing strategies and pricing struc-
Below, Apple Computer International's editorial services manager Jon
Bruce demonstrates that all Apples don't have to be beige colored to be
useful. Opposite page, most of Apple Computer International's staff in front
TALK MAY 1984 II
tures. After three months, the individual areas take over the re-
sponsibilities of managing a product.
Apple is present in most European countries— France, West
Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, Sweden, the Netherlands,
Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Switzerland,
Portugal, Greece, and Yugoslavia— as well as in Iceland, Turkey,
Cyprus, Malta, and Israel. These countries have their own opera-
tions that are responsible for the day-to-day job of marketing and
distributing Apples.
The most recent figures put Apple's sales outside the United
States at 25 percent of the company's total sales, and Europe ac-
counts for the largest part of this 25 percent. Apple has to be con-
sidered the leading personal computer manufacturer in Europe,
though it is only in the last year that this distinction has come to
mean much. By and large, Europeans have been slower to em-
brace the personal computer phenomenon than people in the
United States.
The challenges of marketing American products, particularly
personal computers, on the European continent make for quite a
story. Localization— making a product suitable for a specific
country — and distribution are the most crucial areas a company
must concern itself with. But the larger question of just how wel-
come American companies are overseas cannot be ignored.
Phil Roybal, until late last year Apple's European marketing
manager, says the situation in Europe is the same for Apple as for
any foreign company. As long as Apple is creating local jobs,
boosting the local economy— basically being a "good European
citizen"— there are no problems with local governments. When
spin-off job opportunities, such as dealerships, are created, they
contribute to a positive balance of trade.
Late last year, Roybal stepped down from his European post
of one year— which had him spending half his time in California
and the other half in Paris. He says Apple's goal was to build up
the organizations in each of the countries so that they could oper-
ate more or less independently, with only a modicum of direction
from the Paris office— which, in turn, gets its direction from
Cupertino. But before you get the idea that Apple Computer In-
ternational is just a funnel for directives from the big boys in
Silicon Valley, read on.
Mighty Mike. Once you've heard him talk and seen him
pound the table a dozen times in as many minutes to emphasize
his words, it's easy to understand how Mike Spindler landed the
pivotal job of Apple's vice president and general manager for Eu-
rope. A native German who speaks several languages with ease,
Spindler is much more than an efficient marketeer. Like Jean-
Louis Gassee, the amazing individual who has made France Ap-
ple's most lucrative foreign market, Spindler is a persuasive
messenger bringing the promised land of personal computing to
the peoples of Europe.
"We are a consumer marketing company selling personal
tools, which someone might accidentally call computers, through
dealers. We're marketing these tools to individuals on a wanted
rather than a needed basis. You have to start talking to the guts
rather than the intellect, to the buyer's ego— to his ability to say,
T want to learn about this because I think these tools will become
part of my life.' "
Spindler' s introduction to Apple occurred in early 1980. At
the time, he was Intel's European marketing manager, working
out of Brussels. Then, as now, Regis McKenna was Intel's public
relations agency. One day Regis McKenna himself came by and
Apple Computer International execs (top to bottom): Mike Spindler, vice
president and general manager; Henri Aebischer, marketing manager, Ap-
ple II division; Bob Kissach, marketing manager, 32 division; Fred Bullock,
product marketing manager for the Apple lie; and Marek Milik, creative
Services manager. Photos by David Hunter
MAY 1984
mum
43
showed Spindler copies of American microcomputer magazines
and basically said, "This is the next thing."
Spindler has worked his way down, so to speak, from main-
frames to minicomputers to microcomputers. In the midsixties he
helped engineer peripherals for mainframes at a company called
Siemens. From Siemens, Spindler went on to Digital Equipment
Corporation, where he eventually became involved with the
marketing, largely through OEMs, of minicomputers.
It was while he was learning the art of the "technosell" that
Spindler recognized the threat the semiconductor industry posed
to minicomputer manufacturers by virtue of its ability to produce
microprocessors. Spindler could see that advances in software,
such as real-time operating systems, were going to undercut the
minicomputer manufacturers just as that industry had once pulled
the rug out from under mainframe suppliers.
Spindler saw the opportunity to participate in an exciting new
industry and joined Intel. As it worked out, the semiconductor
companies failed to recognize the chance to beat the minicom-
puter manufacturers at their own game. Thus, Spindler was
primed to join an organization like Apple.
"For me, Apple was an opportunity to start again, to build a
company and a market," Spindler recalls.
Remembrance of Things Past. In the late seventies, a man
by the name of Andre Sousan set up independent arrangements
with European import companies to buy Apples at arm's length.
It was a primitive importing operation, with no marketing and
sales support, that had limited success. Spindler calls it "a real
buy-and-sell situation. The local distributor would do the best he
could." To this day, Spindler believes that distributor is the
wrong label to attach to the entity that moves machines in Europe.
"It's a push market; we must be a marketing company."
Apple first entered the European theater en force in 1980. The
company did three things immediately: built a manufacturing
plant in Cork, Ireland, opened a large distribution center in the
Netherlands, and implemented a management structure in the
form of a marketing and sales headquarters in Paris.
Apple was fortunate to land the services of Jean-Louis Gas-
see, who has created an extremely strong dealer network in
France. Gassee wrote the book on making Apples attractive to the
French people. He formed a distribution company which he has
since sold to Apple. Now, as director of Apple (Seedrin) SARL,
he uses his strong character, active intellect, and personal love of
Apple to point the way to success in the rest of Europe.
"We weren't promoting the idea of personal computers,"
says Spindler, "as personal tools for individuals in schools, busi-
nesses, and wherever to use for themselves. The existing market
was more or less the old game of accounting, payroll, inventory.
Everybody looked at the Apple U as a poor man's data processing
unit that they'd hook up to a mainframe." Selling Apples as
business machines took the personal out of personal computers,
and it was Gassee who showed that Apples could appeal to the
strongly entrenched cultural consciousness of Europeans.
Spindler feels that Apple is on the right track, moving away
from the traditional, classical technosell method of marketing
machines.
In addition to marketing Apples in a way that appeals to Euro-
peans, Apple had to make a greater effort to localize software.
"The people in the home office, as smart as they were, had more
than enough to do. There was no easy way for them to localize the
software that makes Apples so popular in the States."
Two for the Road. Last year, when John Sculley came on as
president of Apple, one of the first moves he made was to simpli-
fy the structure of the company, forming two basic product
groups— the Apple U division and the 32 division. At Apple Com-
puter International, each of the two groups has its own marketing
manager who reports to Spindler, who in turn reports directly
to Sculley.
Henri Aebischer, a three-year veteran of Apple, is the
marketing manager for the Apple II group. A native of Switzerland,
Aebischer has a reputation for being a connoisseur of French
cooking.
Aebischer took what he calls the "traditional path" for Ap-
ple's European executives. That is, he worked in the minicom-
puter industry, for Data General, before moving to the field of
microcomputers. It was at Data General that Aebischer met Jean-
Louis Gassee, who in turn introduced him to Mike Spindler. As
an "old crocodile" of the computer industry, Aebischer brings
years of experience to the job.
Though he believes that the Mac may eventually surpass the II
family in total number of Apple units sold, Aebischer also be-
lieves that the "II will stay here for a long, long time.
"The Apple II began "s a general-purpose machine, but as
time went by it became a 'niche machine.' " explains Aebischer.
Users, with a choice of some ten thousand pieces of software, be-
gan to use the II for specific vertical market applications. The
sum total effect was that the market "appeared horizontal, but it
was probably made up of many vertical segments."
The philosophy behind Apple's existing and future eight-bit
machines is basically the same throughout the world: Take a win-
ning product and improve it so it stays a winner. Aebischer
defines Apple's philosophy as decreasing cost and compacting
value. The brand-new Apple lie (the c stands for compact) con-
tinues the tradition started with the Apple U Plus and He.
In addition to lowering costs and achieving a more economical
design of the U, Apple is striving to increase functionality. That is
why modern features like the mouse and integrated software-
technological advances previously available only on the higher-
BI-MONTHLY MAGAZINE
ON 51/4" DISKETTE j
For Apple* II or II +
with 48K memory and
Applesoft*
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1 yr. subscription $39.00
Outside USA & Canada $54.00
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* Apple and Applesoft are registered
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priced Lisa and Macintosh— are becoming standard options for
the II family. "We don't want to strip the II of its functionality
just so we can sell it for $400," says Aebischer.
Localizing Lisa. Aebischer cites the Lisa as an example of
how good Apple has become at localizing products. "The
strategy is to localize a product as soon as possible. Lisa was very
complex. Here in Europe, we had all seven manuals for the ma-
chine translated and printed less than three months after Lisa
started shipping in the States. It was a major task with a lot of
nitty-gritty details."
Though up till now the acceptance of personal computers has
been much slower in Europe than the U.S., Aebischer believes
that the acceptance curve may be exponential. There are still hur-
dles caused by the economic environment, but the computer
awareness of Europeans is on the rise. Almost as important as
the pricing of products is the careful nurturing of the various
cultures.
"The Latin countries love the personal computer concept.
The French are very individualistic. Just drive in Paris some-
time. The French drive crazily because they think they are alone
on the road."
Germany, on the other hand, is a different story, according to
Aebischer. "There they say, 'We are comfortable. Why should
we try to improve our productivity?' Their attitude is becoming
very conservative, even a little pessimistic perhaps."
At least four times a year Aebischer travels to the United
States to meet with the folks in Cupertino, visit dealers, and look
at the largest Apple market close-up. "All of us here read the
U.S. press. The States are a kind of guinea pig for us. What hap-
pens there will happen here."
Aebischer believes that the tide may be turning. He attributes
this to the increased visibility of Apple in Europe and to the ex-
istence of innovators, who take up the challenge of making per-
sonal computers useful for themselves. When a talented individ-
ual creates a program or application and shows it to someone,
who in turn sees a need for his own machine, he is contributing to
that curve.
Managing the European MacMarket. Although Macintosh
was announced in Europe at the same time as in the United States,
the machine is still not being shipped to European dealers
in quantity.
Bob Kissach, marketing manager for the Apple 32 division,
will have been with Apple's European troops three years come
August. A native of Leeds in northern England's Yorkshire
County, Kissach has a laugh that probably could be heard easily
from the highest balcony seat in London's Albert Hall.
Kissach has worked with American companies for a total of
fourteen years. Nine of those years were spent with Data General
and included a stint in Marlborough, Massachusetts. He's been in
Paris for seven years, first with DG and now with Apple.
"The experience we've gained from marketing the II and III
in Europe has helped on a lot of levels with Macintosh and Lisa.
Of course, the main task is localization. We've tried to put
nothing inside a machine that is country-specific.
"There are needs to localize the power supply and the analog
board, but the digital board is identical throughout the world."
Likewise, says Kissach, the iconographic labeling over the ports
on the back of Macintosh's case means the case can be the same
for any country, regardless of the native language.
"Usually it is very difficult to localize software. Someone
would have to go through the source code and translate it man-
ually. With Macintosh there are resource files that allow us to
change messages, menus, dates, times, sorting sequences, and
character sets. With one of these resource editors we can stretch a
dialog box to fit a specific language." This can be crucial.
English is a very compact language compared to, say, Ger-
man. An item on an English memo that is seven characters long
may require over ten characters in German.
In addition to recognizing the importance of localizing prod-
ucts, Apple has learned that software sells machines. "We're try-
ing to re-create the U phenomenon," Kissach says. "The Macin-
tosh is totally open to developers."
Kissach has been involved with the Macintosh product for
more than a year and a half. The announcement of the machine in
January was attended in Europe by the same razzmatazz and press
coverage that made the U.S. introduction of Macintosh such a
media event. Kissach and others attribute a lot to Lisa for the
overwhelming acceptance of Mac in Europe. Although few peo-
ple seemed to be able to afford the high-priced Lisa when it was
first introduced (the price was the equivalent of $12,000), the ma-
chine generated great interest.
Apple is also trying to foster, says Kissach, a more evenly
balanced exchange of software. This means that a software com-
pany in France should think of selling its products not only in the
United States but in other European countries as well. The fact
that software for the Macintosh can be easily translated is helping
this effort along considerably.
Cooking Up a Consistent Look. Marek Milik is Apple's
creative services manager for Europe. His job is to maintain the
consistency of Apple's graphic look throughout the Continent.
The graphic look includes brochures, packaging, magazines,
fliers, print advertising, and television commercials — anything
the public sees.
Milik says that people in the States don't often realize the
enormous differences there are between countries in Europe.
"Here, flying from San Francisco to Los Angeles is the equiva-
lent of flying from London to Paris, London to Rome, Paris to
Zurich. And each time you're experiencing completely different
nationalities, languages, and ways of thinking. Our job is to
transform the Apple graphics, which all originate in America, so
they look European."
It is crucial, says Milik, for an American company to play
down the fact that the product being offered is American. "A
Frenchman wants to buy something French, or at least buy some-
thing that is not crammed down his throat as American. It's
getting better now, but in the past Apple's graphics have been
very Californian."
The problem of localizing, but not overlocalizing, Apple's
image is a complex one. "A Frenchman also doesn't want to buy
something that looks too German or too Italian." Up until last
October, says Milik, all the designs of brochures and packaging
for the various European countries originated from the Paris of-
fice. Now that this aspect of Apple's European operations has
been decentralized, there is a real effort to make sure that the in-
dividual areas— all of which now have their own communications
and marketing departments — don't radically change Apple's
overall public image.
"You have to rationalize some," Milik says. "There are a
thousand little things that the individual areas have to do, but they
can't start changing the big things, like the packaging and the
brochures."
Milik works closely with the creative managers of the various
individual countries, as well as with Cupertino. "In the States,
I've told them that if you shoot a picture of a man sitting at a desk,
take the telephone off the table. It's not that we don't have
telephones out here, but they're slightly different in each country.
So take it off, or shoot six or seven versions of the picture."
Another telling example of the problems of localizing
graphics is found in the packaging for the Uc. On one side of the
United States box is a picture of a smiling woman in blue jeans
holding a Uc. In Germany, for instance, this concept would not
work well. So the picture was changed to three businessmen in an
A TIMELY
ANNOUNCEMENT
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CP/M**, Pascal, Applesoft*, and
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What's more, PROCLOCK fully
emulates Superclock II,
Thunderclock Plus and Apple
Clock*. So programs written for
these products can be used without
any modification.
Of course, PROCLOCK will time-
and date-coding files. And consider
how much money you could save
by timing your modem to transmit
when the phone rates are cheapest.
You can even use PROCLOCK as
part of an automatic appliance
control system.
Plus, PROCLOCK's powerful inter-
rupt capabilities are invaluable to
programmers working with time-
sensitive routines and multi-tasking.
It can generate interrupts at inter-
vals of 1 millisecond, 1 second, 1
minute, 1 hour, or any combination
of those. And all interrupts are
software-controlled and handled
through PROCLOCK's on-board PIA.
Speaking of software, you also get
a diskette full of sample programs,
utilities and applications like our
Time-Clock II job/time logging
program.
PROCLOCK even includes one
feature we don't expect anyone to
take advantage of— a 10-year lithium
battery that keeps the clock running
even if your computer is left off for
long periods of time.
But just try to keep away from
your Apple long enough to put that
to the test! With PROCLOCK, you'll
have a whole new world of applica-
tions to explore. And plenty of time
to explore it. Because PROCLOCK is
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46
mum
MAY 1984
elevator; two are carrying briefcases and one is holding a He.
International Signs of Modern Times. Apple's chief com-
petitor in the United States is IBM, and Big Blue (or the Big Let-
ters, as Spindler refers to the largest computer firm in the world)
is gaining momentum in the European personal computer market.
IBM has been slow to enter the European market; the PCjr and
Portable PC are still to be introduced— "It's a case of pick your
rumor as to when," says Kissach.
Even so, Kissach and Apple recognize that IBM can have the
same effect in Europe that it did in the United States — that is, it
can help legitimize the market. Up till now, says Kissach, some
people have viewed the IBM PC as a "me too" machine. "IBM
is a well-respected name here," Kissach says, "but it doesn't
have the same magic that it has in the States.
"But they're moving. Already we're seeing a polarization oc-
curring with the dealers, where stores are starting to carry Apple,
IBM, and maybe one other brand. Even in Europe it seems to be
shaping up into a two-horse race, though Victor— which entered
the market a year before IBM— has sold quite a lot of its machines
here."
Regardless of IBM's strategies, Apple remains secure in its
own still-developing attack. Fred Bullock, product marketing
manager for the Apple lie, puts it this way: "Apple's first
priority is not to be IBM-compatible but to be the best." Spindler
too feels that, particularly in Europe, Apple has little to fear from
the Big Letters as long as product and not name is the main focus.
"If you say that a machine has MS-DOS compatibility, what
does that mean to the first-time user? Nothing. We're trying to
move away from that world of a data processing elite, with their
blue suits and a huge programming staff. Distribution means
growing sales, not a growing technical support staff."
Fruits of Technology Over There. Free to do its own thing,
Apple is clearly on the road to explosive growth in Europe. The
last year has seen sales double in France. Kissach believes that if
the German market picked up, the European scene would be
spectacular.
"This whole business is communication," says Spindler.
"We're our own worst enemy. I go to Cupertino once a month to
discuss changing resources, product allocations, and future defi-
nitions of markets. We engage in a sort of body language with
dealers. Dealers are very important in Europe. We try to con-
vince them that Apple is a partnership, not dominance, not
George Orwell."
Inseinely Great. With all this talk of marketing, localization,
and cooperative strategies, very little mention has been made of
what a delightful group of people work at the Paris office. They
now number about forty-five and there's hardly an American in
the bunch. Editorial services manager Jon Bruce, when he is not
producing six or seven different documents in what he calls the
"midatlantic" style of writing, produces the cheerfully irrev-
erent Apple Computer International employee newsletter, called
Apparis. Flipping through past issues gives a reader a privi-
leged look at a group of people who care very much about their
work, but also about having fun— people who know how to keep
a sense of humor even when they work long hours and wear many
different hats.
Apple Computer International is reminiscent of the early days
of Apple— the enthusiasm, the excitement, the uncertainty about
what will happen next. Henri Aebischer says that hardly six
months goes by without some radical change occurring on the
European front. That the changes have been mostly for the good
should give Americans encouragement. In personal computing,
these Europeans are not behind us trying to catch up, they're cre-
ating something brand-new— just as they did when they carved
the Americas out of the New World. We can learn from them as
they have learned from us. JM
New books from Wiley
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Apple* is a registered trademark of Apple Computer, Inc.
BUSINESS BASIC FOR THE APPLE6 III
Eddie Adamis
A self-paced, self-instructional guide to BASIC programming on the Apple III— Apple's
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for a wide range of business applications.
(0 471 88388-3) 260 pp. $16.95
BASIC KEYWORDS FOR THE APPLE8 III
Eddie Adamis
A convenient, comprehensive dictionary of keywords that lists and explains the entire
BASIC vocabulary for the Apple III: statements, commands, operators, functions,
and symbols. Organized alphabetically with one keyword per page.
(0 471 88389-1) 143 pp. $14.95
ART AND GRAPHICS ON THE APPLE8 ll/lle
William H.DeWitt
Only a small working knowledge of BASIC is required to run the exciting programs included
in this book. Readers are introduced to Conceptual Programming— a unique, easy
approach to image creation— and are instructed in how to produce good photos, prints,
and tapes of their computer art.
(0 471 88728-5) 134 pp. $14.95 Book with program disk: (0 471 80253-0) $39.90
THE APPLE'S8 BASIC CORE
Noel Kantaris
A clear and interactive guide for beginners and intermediate-level programmers. Contains
63 programs, including utility programs, and numerous practice problems with full working
solutions. April 1984 (0 471 80233-6) 224 pp. $14.95
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Multiplan not only uses English commands, it allows
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Multiplan can link data in different spreadsheets.
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Data
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Bringing Information to light.
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Data Spectrum is a work of art in its ability to
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Destined to set a new standard in the industry,
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MAY 1984
S O F T A L If
51
Mind Your
PETER OLIVER!
Can summertime be almost here? It cer-
tainly can! And perhaps after a long winter,
your trusty Apple could use a tune-up. More
about that later. We have quite a variety of sub-
jects to cover this month. In the course of things
we'll make good on leftover promises, intro-
duce some new topics for discussion, and con-
tinue to develop ideas that have been presented
over the last few months. So why not pour your-
self a bit of lemonade, put your feet up, sit
back, and relax.
Continuing Communications. Last month
we talked about telecommunications and its im-
pact on microcomputer users. This time, we'll
address a specific question that a number of
readers have asked, namely: What factors
should be considered when selecting a modem?
As you'll recall, a modem is the device
that's connected to your Apple and serves to
link your machine to another computer. There
are five factors to consider when selecting a
modem:
1 . What kind of interface does the modem re-
quire? What, you may ask, is an interface?
Well, your Apple must somehow connect (in-
terface) with the modem. If you're going to use
the telephone lines as the means of transmitting
data (there aren't many other choices available
to most of us), then you need some sort of con-
nector. Since modems use the serial method of
transmission (one bit after another), the inter-
face connected to your machine must also be
serial. Some micros have this interface— which
is usually called an RS-232 serial interface-
built in. An RS-232 interface is also available
via some sort of communications card that's
designed to be placed in one of the vacant slots
of your Apple. Some modems come with this
card, while others require that it be purchased
separately.
2. At what speed will the modem send data?
Common speeds are 300 baud (bits per second)
and 1200-baud. Faster speeds are possible, but
they're not really appropriate for use over
telephone lines. The faster the transmission
speed, the faster information is obtained. For
example, using a 1200-baud modem would en-
able you to transmit or receive a twelve-page re-
port in the same amount of time it would take to
send or receive a three-page document at 300
baud. If you're paying for the time it takes to
send and receive files (either as part of your
phone bill or in the form of charges for using
one of the information services), then getting a
1200 baud modem might well be worth the ex-
tra expense. Look around; some modems offer
switch-selectable speeds.
3. How does the modem connect to the
telephone? Most modems take advantage of a
common telephone jack (one of the newer ones,
not the old four-prong type). This is by far the
best connection method, resulting in a transmis-
sion that is more noise-free and allowing for
some nice features, such as automatic dialing.
The alternative is to get a device called an
acoustic coupler— a small unit into which you
place the telephone handset. Though different
from a modem, an acoustic coupler serves
essentially the same purpose. Acoustic couplers
are cheaper than modems, but they are also less
reliable.
4. What software is available to support
communications with this modem? This con-
sideration is certainly an important one— after
all, it was probably the software that facilitated
a lot of those nifty things that made you want a
modem in the first place. Make sure, at the mini-
mum, that the software you get allows for easy
transfer and printing of files. And of course, it
might be a big plus if this same software also
made it possible for you to communicate with a
variety of host computers.
5. Are there any extras included with the
modem package? Some packages offer special
features, such as the ability to answer incoming
calls to your computer automatically, the ca-
pacity to remember several telephone numbers
and automatically dial them at your command,
and the ability to dial up an information service
late at night (when rates are cheaper) and re-
trieve the data you need.
The Magic Numbers. If you're interested
in telecommunications and you've decided to
purchase a modem, the next obvious question
concerns where or whom you might call.
Certainly, many business people use their
modem-equipped micros to communicate di-
rectly with their company's main computers.
This enables them to enter or retrieve informa-
tion directly (either at home or at work) from
existing resources. It's also possible, of course,
to communicate information from one micro-
computer to another (the Apple at home can
communicate with the Apple at work).
A modem-equipped Apple can also be used
to connect with and obtain information from
one of several commercial on-line information
services. These on-line sources provide access
to programs, news, classified ads, and a variety
of special services. Among the information ser-
vices available are the following:
The Source (McLean, VA). UPI news, busi-
ness databases, financial information, airline
schedules, electronic mail services, user bulle-
tin boards, and various consumer-oriented data-
bases. For information, call (800) 336-3366.
GTE Telenet Medical Information Network
(Vienna, VA). This service provides informa-
tion of interest to physicians, nurses, therapists,
and pharmacists. It includes electronic mail ser-
vices, bulletin boards, access to medical data-
bases, and information from several medical
journals. For information, call (703) 442-1900.
Newsnet (Bryn Mawr, PA). Provides com-
plete information from more than 150 different
business newsletters. For information, call
(800) 345-1301, (800) 527-8030 in Penn-
sylvania.
Dialog Information Services (Palo Alto,
CA). Has one of the largest collections of data-
bases available. For information, call (415)
858-2700.
More than Just Graphs. In a previous col-
umn, we took a look at some of the major busi-
ness graphics packages. The primary purpose of
the packages we examined at that time was the
production of relatively high-quality business
graphs— mainly bar charts, line graphs, and pie
charts. Some of the specialized packages also
allowed the user to create organizational charts,
flow charts, and schematics.
If you're really interested in graphics, it's
very possible that you would like to do some-
thing that the packages we've evaluated so far
don't allow — namely, animating your own pic-
tures. If incorporating animation into our pre-
sentations meant having to acquire program-
ming expertise, most of us would not bother.
The task is reasonably complex and tedious,
and, we'd likely conclude, not worth the time
that would have to be invested. Fortunately,
there's an alternative to this long process, a
package that's well worth the time one must in-
vest in learning to use it.
The package is Accent Software's TGS: The
Graphic Solution. This complete animation sys-
tem can provide creative computer users with a
variety of possibilities to incorporate into sales
presentations, training aids, educational presen-
tations, graphs, and charts. The Graphic Solu-
tion can be used to combine text and graphics
via much the same approach you'd take if you
were creating a motion picture. First you create
the actors (your shapes) and then you
manipulate them ' 'on film. ' '
TGS runs on any Apple II with 64K (ac-
tually, there are versions requiring only 48K,
but the extra 16K is well used). It will take a
few hours to learn all the features of this fine
package, but your time will be well rewarded.
TGS gives great feedback— when you have cre-
ated an animation and you see it work, the feel-
ing is terrific!
Essentially, what takes place is this. You
create your shapes on a low-resolution screen
using very simple cursor movements. When-
ever you wish, you can jump to the high-
CUT TAXES • CONTROL EXPENSES • SAVE ON ACCOUNTING
Hill
li§
!!§• III! ill he - ;??! fH
'!!!!; !
SS.-3S"
•3& & S&
CHECKBOOK FINANCIAL SYSTEM
For Apple® II, II + , lie, III emulation, and Apple look-alikes - 48K DOS 3.3
PLAIN VANILLA
Our checkbook program is
plain vanilla... no complex set-ups,
no intricate budgets,
and no monthly closings.
At first people laughed. "Are you kidding? A ninty-
nine dollar checkbook program?"
It's true, Money Street isn't cheap, in fact it's one of
the more costly checkbook programs. But with
software as with everything else, you get what you
pay for.
Money Street gives you ease of learning. You'll
have it up and running in thirty minutes, or your
money back.
Money Street gives you speed. Examples: Three
seconds from main menu to any sub-section. Eleven
seconds from boot to data entry. Twenty seconds
from boot to print.
Not Another Home Accountant
Don't confuse Money Street with other programs.
Maybe you've been disappointed by a budget
program like The Home Accountant. We
sympathize. All you wanted was an easy way to
manage your finances, and you end up with a
tangle of budget categories and useless graphics.
Money Street is different. We promise Money
Street won't drive you up the wall with complex
set-up, yard long print-outs, or monthly closings.
With Money Street it's put up or shut up: If you
don't fall in love with Money Street, you get your
money back. (See below for details.)
Delighted Users
• "For once, the authors were more interested in
the end user than showing off their
programming prowess. Entries are simple to
make and modify. You set up 100 expense or
income codes (checks, deposits), subtotalled as
you want; just do Ctrl-0 to toggle between the
Code Dictionary and the entry function." Al
Aston, Arlington, TX.
• "This 'simple' checkbook program has got to be
the best thought out, designed, debugged, and
user friendly applications software in existance. I
use it to manage my own finances but it has
completely replaced some rather expensive and
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busy practices." Dr. Arthur Epstine, Roslyn, NY.
• "The program is fabulous — I love it." Richard
Rodney, D.D.S., Toronto, Canada.
• "The program is both easy to use and a very
helpful addition to my software library. The most
useful features are the automatic totaling of
categories and the automatic retrieval of split
entries." Louis Wofsy, Burk, Virginia.
• "As promised, it is not only easy to learn but an
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items readly at hand." H.M. Stover, Yountville,
Calif.
• "You guys are great!" Dick Palmer, San Diego,
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15 Ready-to-print reports! Press four
keys and the program will print any of 15 different
reports. Just select from the Report Menu, and
the program does the rest. Start-up to print time is
usually 20 seconds. Reports include:
1 . Monthly code totals
2. To-date code totals
3. Sort by amount
4. List code dictionary
5. List by payee
6. List deposits
7. List un'cld checks
8. List un'cld deposits
9. List all entries
10. Sort by date cleared
1 1 . Print check registry
12. Print selected month
13. Print selected code
14. List code totals
15. List monthly totals
Saves money eight ways:
1 . Find tax deductions and credits.
2. Saves CPA write-up fees.
3. Allows "before year-end" tax planning.
4. Saves accounting time; provides input for
journals, ledgers, and reports. The program also
doubles as a mini-accounts receivable, inventory
keeper, and job cost system.
5. Saves interest expense by keeping exact
balances.
6. Saves NSF charges.
7. Saves credit card interest charges.
8. Changes your financial attitudes; puts you in
control.
PROGRAM FEATURES
• 100 user-defined accounts • On screen chart of accounts •
Account sub totals, grand totals • Handles unlimited checking
accounts • Three minute year-end rollover • Credit card accounting
• Full editing, even after entry • Check search and scan screen •
Help screen * Wildcard searches
PROGRAM LIMITS
• 2400 Checks per data disk • 200 uncleared items • Scan speed: 6
per second • Amount limit: $999,999.99 • 100 account categories
DOES MANY JOBS
• Finds tax deductions • Single entry accounting • Job costing •
Budgets and estimates • Mini accounts receivable • Mini inventory
• Tracks personal loans • Real estate rentals • Stock purchases/
sales • Increases "float"
CHECKING ACCOUNT MANAGER
• Prints trial reconciliation • Balances checkbook and statement
• Creates cancelled check file • Prints detailed audit trail •
Includes check register • Prints checkbook "history" • Captures
monthly income • Easy to use
15 Ready-to-print reports I
• Monthly code totals • To-date code totals • Sort by amount
• List code dictionary • Sort by payee • List deposits • List
uncleared checks • List uncleared deposits • List all entries
• Sort by date cleared • Print check registry • Print selected
month • Print selected code • List code totals » List monthly totals
How it works. On your computer screen, you,
create a facsimile of your checkbook. You see 17
items per screen and can scroll for more. As the
computer balances your checking account, you giffl
each check or deposit its own category code. You
get 100 you name'em codes. Press Ctrl-0 and see a |
code dictionary. To set up codes, just type them in.
You can add, delete or change code labels any time
without affecting data.
- 30 00 SUGAR PURCHASES
Money Street's most amazing feature
is its "real time" data bank. It accumulates year-to-
date totals for each of the 100 categories. You see
these totals instantly. Just enter a check, and look
at the bottom of the screen. The year-to-date total
will flash into view with each new entry.
Pays for itself. Money Street keeps things
simple and keeps them honest. It can pay for itself
ten times over just by saving the cost of organizing
and totaling data. As one customer put it: "Why
pay my $100-an-hour CPA to count beans?"
Money Street.. .It's totally new.
If you own real estate, Money Street tracks rents,
tallies repair costs, and helps establish "cost basis"
for capital gain tax treatment. It's also ideal for trust
accounting, retail stores, and home budgeting.
Money back no matter what. Why not
give us a try? If you aren't delighted, we'll give you a
full refund on any mail order purchase from us.
Includes tutorial and program map.
Money Street includes Program Map, complete
documentation, on-screen demo, plus tutorial. For
Apple® II, II + , lie. III emulation, and Apple look-
alikes. Requires 3.3 DOS, 48K. Money Street works
with one drive, but two are preferred. It's also okay
without a printer, but you'll miss a few reports.
Master Charge, Visa, COD okay. Add $2.50 on all
orders for postage and packing. To order or get
additional information: call 24 hours and leave your
name with our answering machine.
The program is copy protected. We sell back-up
disks for $10. We also offer a special utility disk that
makes two back-up copies, tranfers code labels,
and allows screen sorts of a single month or code
category. Price is $25.
Computer Tax Service
P.O. Box 7915
Incline Village, NV 89450
(702) 832-1001
Money Street is a Trade Mark of Bullseye Software.
Apple is a registered trade mark of Apple
computers, Inc.
*99
95
MAY 1984
snnm
53
resolution screen to see what the object you're
working on looks like. Once you've created a
shape, you can save it to disk. If you've created
some shapes using other packages, TGS can
handle them also. And if you prefer to use a
KoalaPad or a Gibson light pen instead of mov-
ing the cursor via the keyboard, you can pur-
chase an expansion module from Accent Soft-
ware that ties TGS directly to those input
devices.
Once you've created a shape, you're ready
to move into an animation mode where you can
trace a path for your shape using simple
keyboard commands. From here, you can move
into show mode, which allows you to review
your film at any stage. A speed mode enables
you to control the speed at which a given frame,
a set of frames, or the entire film, is shown.
Also available are line mode, circle mode, and
text mode, all of which permit you to add vari-
ous enhancements to any drawing you've
created.
The TGS package contains two disks, each
disk holding a copy of the main program. On
the back side of the first disk is a set of sample
sequences (animations) and shapes for you to
examine and use. On the back of the second disk
are some effective demonstrations of what can
be done with animation. Looking carefully at
these sample shapes and sequences can teach
you a good deal about the program.
In addition, Accent Software provides an ex-
cellent user guide. This guide is thorough,
readable, and long— nearly two hundred pages.
And yet it is not verbose; the examples it pre-
sents are clear, concise, and useful, and they
help make the text a very effective tutorial. If
you follow along with what's requested in each
chapter, it's very hard not to learn the special
features of TGS. The exercises at the ends of
chapters are particularly worthwhile. They do a
good job of introducing some particularly nice
aspects of the package.
So if you want to have some fun with graph-
ics or have always wanted to create some ani-
mated sequences with your computer, don't
pass this one by.
Take a Tablet and Call Us in the Morn-
ing. With all the interest in graphics these days,
it's not surprising that various new devices have
emerged to facilitate the input of such material
to the computer. If you're thinking about adding
a graphics tablet to your system, you might
want to investigate the following products:
Powerpad (Chalk Board, Inc.). This low-
cost product plugs into a game slot, has a 12 x
12-inch drawing surface, and is a good chil-
dren's tablet.
KoalaPad (Koala Technologies Corpora-
tion). A functional, inexpensive first tablet with
good resolution, KoalaPad plugs into a game
slot, and has a 4 x 4-inch drawing surface.
Much software is being developed for it.
Hi Pad (Houston Instruments). This is a
high-end professional graphics tablet that's
especially useful in science and engineering ap-
plications.
Apple Graphics Tablet (Apple Computer).
Well designed and manufactured, this is a so
phisticated high-end tablet with plenty of
available software.
Clean Up Your Act. When was the last time
you cleaned your machine? If you're like most
users, you don't remember. If you don't give
your machine some special attention on a regu-
lar basis, you're taking a serious risk; your Ap-
ple is more sensitive than you may realize.
Keeping your Apple clean means more than
just keeping a dust cover over your machine, its
disk drive, and the printer (you do that now,
right?). Here are some spring/summer cleaning
suggestions:
1 . Turn off your Apple and detach the power
cord from the back of the machine. Then re-
move the cover and look inside. Is it dusty or
dirty in there? If so, clean it. Do not use deter-
gent; a can of compressed air of the sort photog-
raphers use to clean lenses and negatives might
help here. While you're at it, remove each
peripheral card and clean its edges — an eraser
can be a good tool for this.
2. Buy a brand-name disk head cleaner and
use it to spruce up your disk drive. Dust, dirt,
human hair, smoke, oil from a heater, food, and
aerosol spray mists can all be hazardous to
the health of your disk drive. It needs regular
cleaning.
3. Check your printer. Pieces of paper, ink
from the ribbon, and dirt can easily undermine
its sensitive mechanisms. Clean it thoroughly
and replace used ribbons and print wheels.
4. Clean the outside of all your equipment,
Now available at ComputerLand, Busl-
nessland, Softwaire Centres, and at all
leading computer and software retailers.
Ask your local dealer for our products
or order direct from us today.
54
WHTAI I
MAY 1984
using one of the cleaners sold at your computer
store or data processing supply house. These
cleaners have been designed specifically for use
on computer equipment.
5. Take preventive maintenance seriously.
For starters, this means getting a dust cover if
you don't already have one (and then using it!).
Preventive maintenance also means being
aware of problems that can arise from static
electricity build-up. Special carpets and sprays
can be quite helpful in preventing problems of
this sort. Also, it's essential that you use
grounded outlets— if you're not doing this, or if
you're not using the two-prong adapter proper-
ly, you're asking for trouble. Static electricity
can easily destroy a chip, a disk, or even a
microprocessor.
Power surges, power outages, and brown-
outs can also cause problems for your Apple.
You may need to buy additional equipment de-
signed to prevent serious damage to your com-
puter resulting from external conditions over
which you have little control. Don't wait until
something happens — plan for it.
Apple HI Things. One of the more popular
products for the Apple m has been Apple Com-
puter's own word processing package, Apple
Writer III. Now this package has been up-
graded. Among the noteworthy features of the
new version are significantly improved docu-
mentation, provisions for easier cursor control,
a built-in interface to Apple Speller, a template
for the numeric keypad that identifies many of
the more commonly used commands, and a new
SPECIAL PROGRAMS
for SPECIAL APPLICATIONS
1BVLK MAILER $99.
A professional mailing list program that includes a sophisticated duplication
search and an incredible 32,000 name capacity with hard disk (up to 2400
with Apple/floppy version - up to 5400 with IBM/floppy version). Very
straight-forward and easy-to-use, includes many marketing features. Now
with Mail Merge utility and a new low pricel
"BULK MAILER is both a technological and functional advance for the Ap-
ple II and as such represents a significant breakthrough." "rife with features".
SOFTALK, June 1983.
•Duplication Elimination *Zip and Alpha sorts
•Broad Coding Capability •Mail Merge Utility
•32,000 Name Capacity «1-up through 4- up labels
with Hard Disk version -$350. 'Remarks line
V INVENTORY MANAGER II $199.
Newly revised and enhanced. Perfect for retailers, distributors or any business
involved with sales. Can track up to 2200 items on Apple, and up to 10,000
on IBM, and provides numerous management reports.
"INVENTORY MANAGER is among the most complete programs of its type
on the market today." "no stone unturned" SOFTALK, Dec. 1982
•Detailed Sales Reports «Ave/Cost & Ave/Sale Price
•Prints Suggested Orders •Up to 99 Vendors
•Sorts by Vendor, Dept. , Profit *Prints Purchase Orders
•Many More Features *Easy Stock Updating
4* LEGAL BILLING $399.
Very friendly, fast and complete legal billing system. Features our exclusive
"Video Time-Slip" for "magic quick" record entries. Prints detailed, user-
controlled client statements. Very easy-to-use and straight-forward.
•Prints Lawyer Time Reports *User Designated Codes
•Prints Aging Reports 'Automatic Interest Added
•Up to 200 Clients (220/IBM) »40 Character Remarks Line
•Up to 3500 Time Slips (6500/IBM) 'Includes Trust Accounts
Available at your dealer or order directly from:
SATORI SOFTWARE
5507 Woodlawn Ave. N.
Seattle, WA 98103
206»633»1469 Satisfaction Guaranteed
SOFTWARE
s SATORI
utility disk that facilitates the transfer of files
from Apple Writer II, Mail List Manager, Quick
File III, and VisiCalc. If you're still using the
old version of Apple Writer III, you just might
want to visit your dealer.
And while you're there, you might want to
inquire about the availability of the new Apple
in manuals. In particular, you may find it help-
ful to look over the SOS Device Driver Writer's
Guide and volumes 1 and 2 of the SOS Ref-
ference manual.
If you're one who likes to take a break now
and then, you've probably been frustrated more
than once that some of the great games for the
Apple II can't be run on your IH. Now there's a
plug-in card, Micro-Sci's Game Port HI, that
gives your Apple III an Apple II game port.
With it, most Apple II game software will run
on your HI. You must, of course, be in emula-
tion mode, but that should be of little conse-
quence.
Bugging a Bug. In a P.S. to a recent letter,
one of our Business User Group members asked
for a brief explanation of a term she had seen in
an advertisement. The mystery item was some-
thing called "spooling."
It's a good bet that the advertisement in
question had something to do with a printer. Es-
sentially, microcomputers can do only one thing
at a time. Fortunately, because they are so fast,
we don't ordinarily experience much of a delay
as they go about their business— except when it
comes time to print out whatever we've been
working on. When a document is sent to the
printer, the computer itself has to wait for the
printing job to be completed. And since the
printer usually operates at a much slower rate
than the computer, an unnecessary delay oc-
curs. Never mind that you're eager to get on
with your next task; you must wait until the
computer is ready.
The solution is to put what has to be printed
in a special memory area from which it can be
fed to the printer. Then the rest of the computer
can go back to work. The process by which this
is accomplished is called spooling, which can be
managed in either of two ways — through the ad-
dition of a card containing the appropriate mem-
ory chips (the card is added to your computer,
to your printer, or to a box in between), or
through software that places the information in
an available part of RAM while the system con-
tinues with other tasks. (This second choice is
the more limiting of the two.)
If your computer spends a lot of its time
printing reports and lists, you might want to
think about adding such a feature. Check those
advertisements again— maybe they'll be clearer
now. Hi
Accent Software, 3750 Wright Place, Palo Alto,
CA 94306; (415) 856-6505. Apple Computer,
20525 Mariani Avenue, Cupertino, CA 95014;
(408) 996-1010. Chalk Board, 3772 Pleasant
Dale Road, Atlanta, GA 30340; (404)
496-0101. Houston Instruments, Box 15720,
Austin, TX 78761; (512) 835-0900. Koala Tech-
nologies Corporation, 3100 Patrick Henry
Drive, Santa Clara, CA 95050; dealer informa-
tion numbers (800) 227-6703, (800) 632-2801
(in California). Micro-Sci, 2158 South Hatha-
way, Santa Ana, CA 92705; (714) 241-5600.
Glide through a full side of programs each month.
THE TEN DOLLAR,
TEARTT-APART
TUTORIAL
There's plenty to explore in each issue
of Softdisk, the interactive magazette.
More than a dozen programs a beginner
can learn to peek and poke through.
Move them, modify them, improve them.
Learn to understand programming at
your leisure and have fun with a few
games. Current issues feature a write-
your-own general ledger series and a
DOS tutorial. And now— most of the
listings that appear in Softalk each
month are included in Softdisk. Save
yourself all that typing!
3811 St. Vincent, Shreveport, LA 71108 318-868-7247
SOFTDISK comes on double-sided diskettes. It is a bonanza of unprotected games,
tutorials, utilities, educational software, and articles. You keep one disk and return
the other after copying it. We pay the postage and furnish a mailer. What's more,
you become part of the action when you send us comments and programs on the
disk you return.
"Great in the classroom, too!"
APPLESOFT DOS 3.3
I HAVE ENCLOSED:
□ $10 for a single issue.
□ $69 95 for a year of SOFTDISK.
Name
Address .
City/State
^ZIP_
Visa/Mastercard # .
Exp
MAY 1984
mum
57
Appfe II Forever!
A Baby Apple That's
Nobody's Junior _
W HARCOT COHSTOCK TOHI1EWIK
Perhaps the most remarkable quality of the Apple II has been
its durability; it doesn't take a cynic to ponder just how long the
now-seven-year-old computer can continue to dominate — yet just
when we wonder about it, some innovator plumbs a new depth in
this remarkable machine. And we realize once again that we still
don't know its limits.
With the Apple lie, corporate Apple indicated that it didn't
consider the Apple II a dead issue either; but the He's innovations
were updates more than breakthroughs. The news on the creative
front at the time was Lisa. Macintosh, arriving a year later, set
rumors flying again about the remaining life span of the Apple II.
Introducing the Apple He. Creative and innovative, and hard
news in its own right, the He flies in the face of our cynical mo-
ments—and Apple knows it. With the advent of the He comes a
new slogan that leaves no doubt what Apple Computer Inc. thinks
of the II product line: Apple II Forever!
It isn't what's inside the computer that's the biggest news. The
He is at heart a full-bodied He— 128K with double hi-res, com-
plete full-size He-configuration keyboard, eighty columns (with a
toggle for forty), and upper and lower case standard (with lower
case accepted even by Applesoft).
It's the outside that's spectacular. Weighing in at seven
pounds— with disk drive built in— the He is a natural winner.
Seven pounds. Less than a bag of groceries. A lot less than a
bowling ball. About as much as a newborn baby. Probably less
than your briefcase on a busy day — which, incidentally, it will fit
into. In planning the lie, the Apple design team combed the stores
for small briefcases, determined that the new Apple should fit
into the smallest of them. As a result, the lie is eleven inches
wide, twelve inches deep, and two inches high.
The Apple lie is a computer system that you can pass to a
friend across the table with one hand.
You can stick it in a desk drawer when company comes.
You can stuff it under the car seat while you're at the beach.
With the battery packs promised soon, you can take it to the
beach with you.
And when your next-door neighbor comes borrowing, you
can hide it under the soap. Well, almost.
He or Not He. Skeptics needn't take Apple's word. Develop-
ers too are jumping on the lie bandwagon— responding possibly
even more vigorously, though not more excitedly, to the baby
Apple than to Mac. More than a hundred developers exhibited
products at Apple's April 24 bash at Moscone Center in San
Francisco, where the lie was introduced to dealers. Almost all
Apple II and He software runs on the lie, but its extended
capabilities open up new avenues for developers, or make feasi-
ble some old ones that weren't economically sound before— like
128K programs. (Publishers are understandably reluctant to ad-
dress memory-enhanced machines to the exclusion of off-the-
shelf configurations.)
Only a few developers already have products specifically
created or enhanced for the lie. Broderbund has modified its
new Print Shop to print out in color on the lie's three-hundred-
dollar companion Scribe printer; the Broderbunch also demoed a
not-yet-titled mouse-run double-hi-res graphics package by
David Snider, facetiously referred to as "David's Midnight
Mousepaint."
Scholastic claimed the "first original program for the lie" to be
their Fact and Fiction Tool Kit, a dual program for people at least
eight years old. Mouse-driven and illustrated in double hi-res, Fact
and Fiction contains Story Maker, which teaches creativity
through writing and clip art illustration, and Secret Filer, an easy-
to-use electronic filing system that's intended to teach logical
thinking, organizational skills, and how to use databases.
Double hi-res is a popular enhancement that He owners (with
later motherboards than revision A) can enjoy; Penguin Software
leads the pack in converting its line of adventures and graphics
utilities to display sixteen hi-res colors.
58
gum i
MAY 1984
Nor is hardware to be forgotten. The disadvantage of the lie
is its lack of expandability; it has no slots. Not a one. What the
lie does have is a slew of ports: two serial RS-232 ports, presum-
ably for printer, plotter, or modem; an extended video port for
RF modulator, RGB, or liquid crystal display; an RCA stan-
dard composite video port for color or monochrome monitor; an
external disk drive port (with controller built in); and a mouse/
joystick port.
Street Electronics gets a head start in hardware with The
Cricket, a voice, sound effects, and music generator combined
with a clock. Not wanting to leave lie owners out in the cold,
Street simultaneously announced the Alpha-Bits serial interface, a
plug-in board that emulates the He's serial ports in the lie.
So the He's lack of expandability may merely come down to
the difference between plugging jacks in the back and lots in
the slots.
All the News That's Fit lie. The Apple lie has inspired more
than a slogan; at its launching party in San Francisco, Apple
revealed major marketing changes in look and policy for almost
all its packages and products. The lie's oysterlike just-off-white
color is heralded as the official Apple color and its "overall
look" — one assumes Apple refers to the European-looking italic
keyboard lettering, the long, slender air vents, and the beige key-
board—as The Apple Look for the future.
The outside packaging is no less a change. No more sedate
white boxes with the Apple logo. The new look's packaging is
brightly colored, with peppy photos on every side — predominate-
ly red for Apple lis, blue for the thirty -two-bit Apples. Manuals,
disk jackets, and disk labels are all to follow the theme. It's fresh
and slick and tailor-made for the mass consumer market.
It's a good question whether, at just under thirteen hundred
dollars, the lie is a mass consumer product. Apple's betting that it
is. At list, the three-hundred-dollar Commodore 64 seems a
whole lot cheaper— until you add on its six-hundred-dollar disk
drive. The lie's got the disk drive built in and double the mem-
ory. When the difference is four hundred bucks instead of a
thousand, the masses may start massing.
Lust for Power. The reason Apple calls this eminently carry-
able computer transportable— a word generally reserved for
anything that can be moved from place to place by truck or train,
for instance — as opposed to portable is a valid one, even if it
destroys a perfectly good word to make its point. Portable, ac-
cording to Apple, means capable of being used in the process of
being carried around, like a portable radio. Transportable, says
Apple, means capable of being moved from place to place fairly
easily, but not usable in transit. As it's being released, the lie,
like the "transportable" Mac, needs an electrical outlet to run.
Actually, it needs more than an outlet — it needs a power sup-
ply. The one that comes with it weighs about a pound and a half
and is about the size and shape of a small brick. Apple is encour-
aging people who plan to take their He's back and forth between
home and work to purchase an extra power pack to avoid the need
to transport it, too. At forty dollars, that's not a bad idea. Besides
avoiding extra weight, Apple's choosing not to build in the power
supply makes using the He with a battery pack (which, presum-
ably, makes it portable at last) more attractive.
Also not included in the He system is a monitor. Apple ex-
pects many buyers to opt in favor of using their television sets as
monitors — so much so that an RF modulator is part of the package
and all mentions of eighty-column mode sport warnings against
trying to use it on a TV set. It's okay for the moment; even busi-
ness travelers can make do with televisions as monitors in ho-
tel rooms.
To get the most out of the He's eighty columns, though, you
do need a monitor, and Apple has designed one, priced at around
two hundred fifty dollars; it's tiny and fits right in with the He. It
sits on a stand elevated just enough above the lie to let air cir-
culate; the legs of the stand curve forward from the back of the
monitor so the monitor is cantilevered over the computer.
That's now. Promised by September is a small, slim, full-
screen liquid crystal display. The He's carrying case already
has a pocket for it. Weighing considerably less than a pound, the
LCD has eighty columns and twenty-four rows, as is the case
with normal monitors. In fact it will display anything a regular
monitor will, even graphics, although fast arcade-type games will
leave trails.
With the arrival of its LCD, and the advent of the third-party
battery power packs (as well as a device for running the lie
through your car's cigarette lighter), the He will be truly porta-
ble—and we can forget the ungainly misuse of the word trans-
portable in the Apple II world.
A Manner of Speaking. As it did with the Mac, Apple has
carefully kept the noncomputerist in mind in putting together the
Apple lie. For instance, if you boot your older II system with the
disk drive door open, the disk just spins. The lie speaks a new
dialect. In the same situation, it says, "Check disk drive." And
when you're making backups, there's no need to remember
which is which— when to run Copy A, when to brun FID, when to
run ProDOS's Filer or Convert; you just boot up the System
Utilities disk and choose between "Work on Individual Files"
and "Work on Entire Disks."
The manuals are totally new. They're entirely in English
(even pretty elementary English) and are peppered with boxes
telling hackers not to bother reading on, just go get the separate
reference manual instead.
Ilnd to None. The significance of the Apple He is easy for
Apple II and Be owners to overlook; of most relevance to us is
that the greater the success of the Be, the more super software
there'll be written for it, much of which we'll be able to run on our
may 1984 SOETALlnp 59
Els and lie's. More significant in the overall scheme of things is
the potential position the lie gives Apple in the micro market.
Since International Business Machines 's release of the PCjr,
the Apple He's sales have boomed. The Apple He, coming in at a
price comparable to a similarly equipped Junior and light enough
for virtually anyone to tote around perfectly comfortably, is al-
most bound to dominate the higher-end home market (as well as
eating into the more serious-minded lower-end). Some business
travelers may be tempted to furnish their offices with computers
compatible with the one they'd like to carry on the plane.
Then there are those who haven't really considered buying a
computer yet. In an informal survey of computerless people, a
large percentage, upon seeing the lie, immediately began plan-
ning how and when they could manage to purchase one. Among
their comments: "It's the first computer that doesn't look
threatening." "It doesn't look like it would take over my house
and life." "It's so cute." ' T could take it any where with me." "I
could take it with me instead of my portable typewriter— it's even
lighter than my typewriter." "It's just right for the kids." "It
doesn't look like a machine." "It fits."
Light, sassy, sweet. Go on, just try to ignore the delicious lie
in your future. Ill
Carry On Apple
The lie Bows in Europe
Fred Bullock, a sharp young Englishman who moved to Paris
to join Apple Computer International (see Exec article), is the
product marketing manager in Europe for the Apple Uc— which
until April 24 was code-named in Europe "Picasso." The han-
dling of the He, announced simultaneously in the United States
and Europe and introduced to dealers more or less at the same
time on both sides of the Atlantic, demonstrates the sometimes
complicated preparation needed to introduce a major new product.
Bullock, who has been involved with the European introduc-
tion of the Uc since November of last year, says the process of in-
troducing a new product all starts with MRDs (manufacturing re-
quirement documents). An MRD is a report incorporating infor-
mation gathered from talks with dealers and end user surveys indi-
cating the manufacturing requirements for a product in a par-
ticular region.
In Europe, a region which is actually a dozen very different
countries with a potentially wide range of specific requirements,
the details of the MRD can get quite complicated. In Sweden, for
instance, there is considerable pressure from unions to ban sales
of computers that do not have detachable keyboards. Likewise
there is a push in Germany and Sweden, possibly the two most
ergonomically conscious countries in the world, to ban sales of
video monitors that do not have amber displays.
The two MRDs from Europe and the U.S. are combined to
form a global MRD that is sent to the engineering department,
which, in turn, produces an ERS (engineering response). Then
there is a "kind of tennis match between the engineering and
marketing departments that takes two to three months," says
Bullock. Once the volleying is over, a PIP (product introduction
plan) is created for both the U.S. and Europe.
The PIP defines the product and its market. The PIP, at least in
the case of Europe, details any localization requirements. For in-
stance, in most of the countries in Europe the video display in-
terface must comply with the PAL standard, as opposed to the
NCST standard in the States. Keyboards, character PROMS,
manuals, and servicing strategies must also be localized. The PIP
also defines how the product is going to be promoted in the dif-
ferent areas.
Another important aspect of getting a product ready for market
is the seeding of systems to local developers. "One of Apple's
main concerns is to maintain system compatibility— between the
He and lie— with the n Plus. It's important that the new version of
the famous Apple n still run 90 percent of the existing software.
But it's also important that there be new software for a new ma-
chine."
With this in mind, Apple has seeded eighteen systems
throughout Europe with the goal of having localized software
ready for the launch of the lie.
The Uc is an ambitious attempt to enter the high end of the dif-
ficult European consumer market. The Uc is seen as having the
best opportunity for success when marketed as a personal produc-
tivity tool for businesspeople, though its portability means it may
double frequently as a home machine.
"As a machine for the European consumer market, we see the
Uc as affordable enough for people to buy with their own money;
it's also easy to use, easy to carry, and easy to install," says
Bullock.
"In America the Uc is squarely aimed at the mass consumer
market, ' ' Bullock continues . ' 'But in Europe the consumer market
is not as developed as it is in the States. Here, people will spend up
to $600. There is a big void between $600 and $1 ,500, and we see
the Uc as existing in the middle of that void. "
Apple, according to Bullock, sees the He and lie existing side
by side in Europe. The main difference between the two Us is the
seven expansion slots on the He and the portability of the Uc. The
He is aimed at education and more demanding business applica-
tions, those that require networking or hard disks, while the He is
aimed at business managers and perhaps clerical staff workers.
"The He is not obsolete. We plan to sell as many He's in the
future as we are selling now," Bullock explains. Even so, the He
is expected to top off at 65 or 70 percent of Apple's II family sales
in Europe within a year or so.
''The Uc has a lot more functionality than the lie," Bullock
continues. "One of the things that Sculley insisted on when he
joined Apple was that we continue the Apple tradition of using in-
novative technology.
' 'The Uc is a good value for the money . The price of the He in
Europe will be approximately 6 percent higher than its price in the
States. This increase is attributable to the cost of importing parts
and the freight charges for those parts. The main computer is manu-
factured in Ireland, the motherboard comes from Singapore, the
monitor is imported from the Far East."
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By Jim Merritt
Jungle Fever, Part 14
In Your Letter. An ever-increasing number of your letters have sug-
gested that this column address the advanced concepts of pointers and
dynamic data structures. Indeed, the first requests for information on
those topics arrived well over two years ago. Unfortunately, we were
covering the most elementary aspects of Pascal at the time; it seemed im-
prudent then to launch into a discussion of esoteric techniques. After all,
we had to learn to walk before we could run. In recent months, however,
we have ventured fearlessly down the darker, lonelier stretches of the
Pascal Path and have in fact maintained a rapid pace through the thick
underbrush of advanced methodology. Thus, there is simply no point in
stalling any further.
On the Street of Dreams. Suppose you write a letter to the Pascal
Path but have no stamps. You go to the post office and wait your turn at
the stamp counter. Eventually, you arrive at the head of the line and ap-
proach a window. But just as you get there, the clerk pulls down the shut-
ter, on which is printed the legend "next window please," along with a
rightward-pointing arrow. So you move to the next window, just as the
clerk there pulls down his shutter! And on you go, in a scene straight out
of an absurdist nightmare or a television commercial for overnight couri-
er service, following the arrow as it appears in window after window,
your frustration building until, finally, you arrive at the only window
that remains open in the entire post office. With an evil twinkle in his
eye, the clerks asks, "May I help you?" But his offer of assistance
comes too late. You have withdrawn into yourself, mumbling and gig-
gling, mad as a hatter, just one more hapless traveler who wandered too
far into the philatelic region of ... the Pointer Zone!
Me and My Arrow. The basic concept of a pointer is as simple to
comprehend as the words and arrows painted on the stamp-window shut-
ters in our fictional post office. Applying that concept, however, can lead
to frustration and confusion not unlike that which you'd experience while
playing out our post office scenario.
To a computer scientist, a pointer is nothing more than a datum that
tells you (or your program) where to find another, more interesting
datum. By that definition, our old friend, the array index, may be consid-
ered as a pointer (and righdy so). Given an Integer variable— let's call it
I— you may certainly treat its value as a datum in its own right, perhaps
by assigning it to other variables or by performing arithmetic operations
upon it. But you may also use I as an index into an array, in which case
it acts as the address of another value that interests you. If I contained
23, for instance, then the ARRAY reference A[I] names the same area in
memory (and so the same datum) as A[23]. If you change the value in I,
then A[I] suddenly refers to a different spot in RAM. In other words, the
new value of I "points to" a place (or an object) that is different from the
old one.
Integers, Strings, Characters, and many other types of data may be
coerced into serving as pointers. But this is generally unnecessary in
Pascal (except in the common "special case" of array or matrix in-
dexes), because Pascal provides a special type of variable that serves no
purpose other than to point at useful data. The proper name for this class
of object is pointer variable. When a Pascal programmer speaks of a
"pointer," he/she is usually talking about such a variable and not about
the computer scientist's generalized notion of a "pointer."
Welcome to My Nightmare. Let's jump right into a tiny program
that uses Pascal pointer variables to simulate our postal nightmare:
1
1
1:D
1
(*$S+ *) (* Apple III Doesn't need this *)
o
c.
i
i
PROGRAM
3
1
1:D
3
Nightmare;
4
1
1:D
3
(* Simulate the postal patron's nightmare,
5
1
1:D
3
as described in the May 1984 installment
6
1
1:D
3
of Softalk Magazine's Pascal Path.
7
1
1:D
3
*)
8
1
1:D
3
9
1
1:D
3
TYPE
10
1
1:D
3
WindowList =
11
1
1:D
3
AWindow;
12
1
1:D
3
13
1
1:D
3
Window =
14
1
1:D
3
RECORD
15
1
1:D
3
Status
16
1
1:D
3
:(Closed, Open);
17
1
1:D
3
Next
18
1
1:D
3
:WindowList
19
1
1:D
3
END (* Window *);
20
1
1:D
3
21
1
1:D
3
VAR
22
1
1:D
3
LHead,
23
1
1:D
3
LTail,
24
1
1:D
3
LMid
25
1
1:D
3
:WindowList;
26
1
1:D
6
I
27
1
1:D
6
: Integer;
28
1
1:D
7
29
1
1:0
0
BEGIN (* Nightmare *)
30
1
1:0
0
(* Set up the list of windows: *)
31
1
1:1
0
LHead := NIL;
32
1
1:1
5
LTail := NIL;
33
1
1:1
8
LMid := NIL;
34
1
1:1
11
FOR I : = 1 TO 10 DO
35
1
1:2
22
BEGIN
36
1
1:2
22
(* Allocate space for new list
node *)
37
1
1:3
22
New(LMid);
38
1
1:3
27
IF (I = 10)
39
1
1:3
30
THEN
40
1
1:4
32
LMidA. Status : = Open
41
1
1:3
33
ELSE
42
1
1:4
37
LMidA. Status : = Closed;
62
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43
1
1:4
40
(* This will become new last
node. *)
44
1
1:3
40
LMidA.Next : = NIL;
45
1
1:3
45
46
1
1:3
45
IF (LHeari - Nil 1
II ^Ll 1 CuU — 1 N 1 1— j
47
1
1:3
48
THFN (* thi<5 nnHp i<5 thp firQt
II IL.IN ^ LI Mo 1 IUUC i o 11 IC 1 1 1 OL
/hpari^ nnrlp *\
\\ ICQU| 1 IUUC )
48
1
1:4
50
1 Hpari ■ - I Mid
I— I ICOU . — LIVIIU
49
1
1 :3
50
PI QF (* fnrr^P r\IH tail nnHo
LLOL \ IUI UC UIU laM 1 IUUC
50
■)
1 :3
55
to point to new tail. *)
51
1
1:4
55
1 TflilA Npvt • — 1 MiH-
52
1
1:4
60
(* nnnfirm npw tp.il *\
\ UUI 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 IOW LCUI . 1
53
1
1:3
60
LTail : = LMid;
54
1
1:2
63
END (* FOR 1 *);
55
1
1:2
70
56
1
1:2
70
(* M C\\ki va/p arp roaHu tr» cimi ilato
^ inuw, wc die icauy iu oiiiiuicuc
the nightmare. *)
57
1
1:1
70
\A/ritcal n/OiitmitV (* \\ ict tr* ho nrottw *\
vviucLi ^uui[juij, ^ jubi iu uc pi City )
58
1
1 :1
78
IF (L Hpad = NIM
II \L- 1 1 UQU — 1 N 1 L j
59
1
1:1
81
THEN
60
1
1:2
83
Writel_n(Output, 'No windows. )
61
. 1
1:1
114
ELSE
62
1
1:2
116
BEGIN
63
1
1:3
116
\A/ritpl nfOi itni it 'VA/inHruA/
V V 1 I1CLI I\WUIL)UI, VV II IUUW
Qtatiw'V
64
1
1 :3
150
Writpl n(C)\ itni itV
VV 1 IICLI I\WUIUULJ,
65
1:3
158
1 Mid • - 1 Hpad'
LIVIIU . — LI ICaU,
66
1
1:3
161
REPEAT
67
1
1:4
161
IF (LMidA. Status = Open)
68
1
1 :4
165
THPM (* va/p'tp r\c\r\& *\
II 1 l_ 1 i ^ WC IC UUI IC j
69
1
1:5
167
BEGIN
70
1
1:6
167
Writpl iVOi itni it
V V 1 IICLI 1^ UUl|JU L ,
'Mqu | hpln v/nii?'V
71
1
1:6
202
1 MiH ■ — Nil ■
72
1
1:5
205
END
73
1
1:4
205
Fl ^F I* no nn tn npyt
LLOL ^ y \J KJl 1 IKJ 1 1CAI
\A/inHn\A/ *\
Wl 1 IUUW ... 1
74
•)
1 :5
207
BEGIN
75
1
1:6
207
Writpl n(Ci\ itnt it
V V 1 IICI—I l^vUlfJUL,
76
-|
1:6
207
INCAl VVII IUUW
Plpacp *^ 'V
r icqoc y,
77
1
1:6
249
LMid : =
LMidA.Next;
78
1
1:5
253
END;
79
1
1:3
253
UNTIL (LMid = NIL);
80
1
1:2
258
END;
81
1
1:0
258
END (* Nightmare *).
Remember, the shaded portion of the listing is not part of the source
text and should not be included in your copy of the Nightmare program.
We will use the line numbers in the far left-hand column, however, in or-
der to locate crucial sections of Nightmare as they become germane to
our discussion.
In lines 10 and 1 1 , we define a data type, WindowList, as a pointer to
values of another data type, Window. Figure 1 repeats March's syntax
diagram for a data type descriptor; the path that describes a "pointer
type" is shaded to make it more conspicuous. Just so there is no misun-
derstanding, you should take a moment to convince yourself that the
definition of WindowList agrees with the syntax described by figure 1 .
The caret in the type descriptor associated with WindowList indicates
that any variable of type WindowList will be a pointer. Following the
caret is an identifier, Window, which indicates the object type— that is,
the type of data to which a WindowList variable may point. When read-
ing program listings aloud (or even to yourself), the caret symbol that
precedes an object-type identifier should be pronounced as "pointer to."
Thus, A Window should be read as "pointer to Window."
You Got Me Going in Circles. At this point (sorry), the careful
reader will begin to smell a rat. "We haven't defined Window yet," you
will shout, in tones of righteous indignation. Quite so. Indeed, Window
is defined immediately after WindowList (in lines 13 through 19). The
compiler accepts these declarations in the order given, in clear violation
of one of Pascal's fundamental tenets (shout it out loud!): "No identifier
shall be used before it has been declared." It so happens that the com-
piler's design permits it to ignore this rule in the special case of pointer
definitions. That is, object-type identifiers may be used in pointer-type
definitions before being declared. To see why this situation is desirable
(and usually necessary), we must examine the declaration of Window.
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TYPE SPECIFICATION
SIMPLE TYPE
(TYPE) IDENTIFIER
— «-(record>-
►^ENcT^-
(TYPE) IDENTIFIER
3-0— C
Figure 1 . Type specification.
A Window variable is a RECORD of two fields: Status, which tells
whether or not the simulated Window is Open or Closed; and Next,
which points to the next Window in line (if any). Because it is a pointer
to a Window, the Next field is rightly declared as being of type Win-
dowList.
Since WindowList and Window are defined in terms of each other,
and one of them must be defined before the other, it is clear that the Pas-
cal compiler must take the existence of the second object "on faith,"
temporarily, in order to process the declaration of the first. The compiler
is able to do this, so long as the definition of the pointer type precedes
that of the object type. In other words, we may define WindowList be-
fore Window, but not the other way around.
What's Going On? When you define a data type in Pascal, the com-
piler automatically determines the proper amount of RAM storage space
for a variable of that type. If a variable is defined in terms of an unknown
(undeclared) data type, the compiler has no way of knowing how big the
variable should be. Without that information, it cannot generate proper
object code. Suppose we tried to define Window before WindowList.
The compiler would have no inkling whatsoever of the nature of the Next
field, and would therefore complain of error number 104 ("Undeclared
identifier").
We may define WindowList before Window because it happens that
all pointer variables have the exact same size and structure at the level of
the p-machine. There is no structural difference between, say, a pointer
to an Integer and a pointer to a Window, even though the structure of a
Window itself is decidedly different from that of an Integer. (Even so,
the compiler prohibits you from swapping values between pointer
variables of different types. Thus, if IP has been declared as Alnteger,
and LHead has been declared as WindowList, the assignment "LHead
: =IP" would be rejected by the compiler, because the two pointers are
not of the "same type.")
All Apple Pascal pointer variables occupy the same amount of space.
Therefore, the mere fact that a variable is a pointer allows the compiler
to decide its size. The caret in the pointer type descriptor provides the
compiler with this crucial information. From a practical standpoint, the
identifier that follows the caret is of no importance whatsoever in deter-
mining the size and structure of a pointer variable.
The Pointers, Performing in Concert. Suppose that you compile
and execute Nightmare. Figure 2a shows the state of the program's three
WindowList variables, just as control passes to the FOR loop that begins
at line 34.
The keyword NIL stands for a special value that may be assigned to
any pointer variable. If a pointer contains the NIL value, it is assumed to
"point at" nothing. You might say that NIL is to pointers what 0 is to In-
tegers, 0.0 is to Reals, and the null string is to Strings. It happens to be a
convenient initial value for our three WindowList variables, hence the
assignments in lines 31 through 33. So, just before execution of the FOR
loop, all the WindowList variables contain NIL.
The FOR loop builds the list of Windows, such that all but the last are
Closed. The first statement in the loop body (at line 37) is a call to the
standard procedure New. Here, New reserves within vacant RAM the
space necessary to hold a single Window, then deposits a pointer to that
space into LMid. In general, New creates a new variable of the object
type implied by its argument, then fills the argument with a pointer to the
region of memory occupied by the new variable.
After the execution of the statement in line 37, LMid points to a new-
ly created Window variable. That is, LMid is the value of a pointer to the
new Window. The Window value itself is denoted by LMid A.
In lines 38 through 44, we initialize the fields of the new variable.
LMid A. Status is set Open (in Line 40) only if we are dealing with the last
window in the chain of ten. Otherwise, this field is set Closed (in line
42). LMidA.Next is always set NIL, since the most recently created
Window is always placed at the end of the line, and therefore has no suc-
cessor at which to point!
If LHead is NIL by the time control passes to the IF clause in line 46,
then the list is empty, which means that we have just created the very
first Window. Consequentiy, we create a duplicate pointer to this par-
ticular Window and place it in LHead. (This occurs at line 48.) Hence-
forth, LHead will always point to the very first Window in the list.
For each new Window after the first, we force the Next field of the
last Window in the chain to point to the new Window. That is, we over-
write the NIL value that was previously in the Next field with a value that
points to the new Window. As LTail is always supposed to point to the
very last Window in line, we must update the pointer value in LTail
whenever we add a new Window to the end. This is accomplished by the
assignment statement in source line 52.
For graphic summaries of the results produced by the process we
have just examined, you should refer to figures 2b and 2c. The former
shows the values contained by Nightmare's pointer variables, just prior
to the second iteration of the FOR loop, while the latter illustrates the
content of the same variables immediately before the sixth iteration.
Just a Case of Mistaken Identity. Before we proceed, you should be
sure that you understand the difference between the values LMid (with-
out caret) and LMid A (with caret). LMid holds a pointer to a variable of
type Window, but it is not itself a Window variable. Thus, the compiler
rejects expressions such as LMid. Status and LMid. Next (without the
caret); a WindowList variable such as LMid is a pointer, not a REC-
ORD. In contrast, LMidA refers to the Window variable pointed to by
LMid. The expression LMidA. Status names an actual RECORD field
2a Prior lo creation of first window
LHEAD r NIL
2b Prior to creation of second window
LHEAD
2c Prior to creation of sixth window
LHEAD
2d Final list of windows
LHEAD f •
5
k
k
k
^ fc| CLOSED
Figure 2. Evolution of linked list during execution of Nightmare program.
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MAY 1984
67
that can contain either the value Open or the value Closed. LMidA.Next
names a pointer to another Window variable. Note that whenever the
pointer LMid contains the value NIL, the object LMidA does not exist,
and the expression LMidA is therefore meaningless.
All for One and One for All. Frequently, two different pointer vari-
ables will point at the same object in memory. For instance, immediately
after the first Window has been created, both LMid and LHead point to
that variable. The assignment "LHead : = LMid" in line 48 only puts a
duplicate of the pointer value LMid into LHead! The Window at which
LMid points — that is, LMidA— remains undisturbed. An example from
everyday life may serve to clarify this somewhat confusing situation.
Suppose that you open a bank account and receive a magnetic card
that permits you to deposit funds into or withdraw them from the account
through an automated teller machine. Now suppose you marry (or
already are married). You decide that your spouse should have access to
the account, too, and so you apply to the bank for a duplicate magnetic
card. When the bank issues the duplicate card, it does not establish a new
account for your spouse, nor does it alter the balance in the joint account.
The existence of two automated teller cards simply means that two dif-
ferent people may access the same account, independently of one an-
other. Each card is a "pointer," if you will, to the single joint account.
By the same token, at the end of the first FOR loop iteration in Night-
mare, the variables LMid and LHead both point to the same area in
memory. Thus, if we placed the assignment "LMidA. Status :=Open"
at the end of the loop body (between line 53 and 54, say), then both the
relations "(LHead A. Status = Open)" and " (LMid A. Status = Open)"
would be True, immediately prior to the second iteration. This would be
because LMidA and LHeadA would name the exact same object (not
merely the same value). At the risk of confusing matters even further, we
should note that, at the end of the first iteration of Nightmare's FOR
loop, the three pointer variables (namely, LHead, LTail, and LMid) all
contain the same pointer value, and so point at the same object in mem-
ory. This situation changes with the second iteration, of course, and
never occurs again. (Do you understand why? If not, careful study of the
Nightmare listing should help you to grasp the concept.)
Workin' on the Chain Gang. Figure 2d shows the final state of the
pointer variables and the list of Windows, just before the execution of the
WriteLn statement in line 57. By this time, LMid and LTail both point to
the final Window in the chain, while LHead still points to the first.
Lines 56 through 80 of the Nightmare program are concerned with
displaying the chain of Windows established by the preceding FOR loop.
Obviously, if LHead contains NIL (which it certainly should not, if the
FOR loop functioned correctly), then there is no first Window. In other
words, if LHead contains NIL, the list of windows pointed to by LHead
must be empty. Should this be the case, Nightmare produces an appropri-
ate message on the screen, and then terminates. Otherwise, the status of
each Window in the chain is displayed, in proper order.
A computer scientist would call our chain of Windows a linked list. In
the jargon of computer science, the REPEAT loop of lines 65 through 79
traverses the linked list. The loop begins at the first Window in the list
and follows the Next pointers from Window to Window, reporting the
Status for each, until an Open window is found.
For the display loop, LMid is employed as a pointer to the Window of
interest at any instant in time. It is set initially to the value in LHead (line
65). So long as LMidA. Status is Closed, LMid (the pointer) acquires a
value that points to the next window in line, by virtue of the assignment
"LMid : = LMidA.Next" in source line 77. This assignment statement
is the key to list traversal, so go over it in your mind until it makes sense
to you. You will be seeing many more similar statements in programs
that we will develop soon.
Notice that the formal termination condition for the REPEAT loop-
as stated by the UNTIL clause— is "(LMid= NIL)." However, the
logical termination condition is " (LMid A. Status = Open)." That is, we
would really rather stop traversing the list as soon as we find an Open
window, rather than continue on to the end of the list (which is indicated
by a NIL value of LMidA.Next).
In the contrived world of our Nightmare, we could just as easily have
put the logical termination condition into the UNTIL clause, either in ad-
dition to, or as replacement for the one we actually used. Since the last
Window in the list is guaranteed by the FOR loop to have both a NIL
value for Next and a Status of Open, we could have used either or both of
the termination conditions, with equal success. But what if we had de-
cided the value of each Window's Status on a random basis? Then, it
would have been possible for any and all of the Windows to be Open (or
Closed!). Suppose that we had chosen Status values at random, and that
they all happened to be Closed. Had our termination condition been
"(LMidA. Status= Open)," it would have been impossible, under these
circumstances, for the loop to terminate at all! Eventually, LMid would
have acquired the value NIL, thereby invalidating the expression
LMid A. Status altogether.
The expression "(LMid= NIL)" is valid for all values of LMid and
so makes for a "bulletproof" loop termination condition. The IF-THEN
code of lines 67 through 72— especially the assignment statement in line
71— insures that the actual termination condition will also become True
whenever the logical one does.
You might wonder why we didn't just state the loop termination con-
dition as "((LMid= NIL) OR (LMid A. Status = Open))." Such an ex-
pression would certainly cover all the bases, but it is unsuitable as a
termination condition, because in Pascal all Boolean expressions are
evaluated completely. For this particular example, Pascal would always
evaluate both subexpressions, "(LMid= NIL)" and "(LMidA. Status =
Open)," before combining their values with the OR operation. Unfortu-
nately, whenever LMid contains NIL, there is no such thing as
LMidA. Status! The hypothetical "all-inclusive" termination condition
contains a built-in paradox that is avoided by the somewhat more ob-
scure, but definitely more reliable code that is actually used in
Nightmare.
On and On. ... As you can well imagine, the Nightmare program is
only a small tidbit, intended to whet your appetite to learn more about
pointers. By now, you should be asking many questions, including: (1)
Where does Pascal's New procedure get the memory that it allocates?;
(2) Why bother to use pointers at all?
While it is impossible to cover this rich topic thoroughly in just a few
magazine pages, we'll nevertheless try to do just that in next month's
Softalk. Be here in thirty days, when we'll learn that pointing at someone
first may help you to more efficiently reach out and touch him/her! 1M
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mum
69
Since this is the last class meeting, and since
we're all anxious to start our summer vacations
early, we'll keep things nice and short.
But before we go tramping off to our respec-
tive summer resorts, let's take a look at an area
that's often neglected— computers in education.
Kids Are People, Too. Microcomputers are
usually referred to as personal computers and
home computers. Images of someone taking
care of home finances or office work come to
mind when we hear such terms.
Computers fall naturally into number-related
functions such as statistics, accounting, and
calculating.
While education is an area of computing that
is often considered secondary, computers can
also function as teachers and teachers' aides,
both at home and at school.
Before the introduction of microcomputers,
very few schools had computers; and the com-
puters they did have were rickety old machines
that printed everything on paper instead of to a
video screen. Computers in schools were used
for teaching about computers. Older kids would
learn Basic, write simple programs, and feel
like geniuses. But when microcomputers en-
tered the scene, they made computing faster and
easier. It wasn't too long before someone got a
bright idea. It's said to have happened like this :
Idea person: Know what I think?
Other person: No, what?
Idea person: I think it would be great to have
microcomputers in elementary and junior high
schools.
Other person: Why? Kids can learn com-
puting when they get to high school.
Idea person: Yeah, but I'll bet teachers
could use computers to help teach kids all kinds
of stuff.
Other person: To teach what?
Idea person: All kinds of stuff!
Other person: Oh.
Well, maybe not just like that. The idea of
using computers as educational tools is based on
other ideas such as computers can be fun, learn-
ing should be fun, and computers are patient.
Graduation Day
Add up those ideas and the sum is that com-
puters are patient "teachers" that can make
learning fun.
Of course, the computer doesn't know it's
patient; it just doesn't know how to be frus-
trated. Also, computers demand interaction.
They respond to people, but only if they receive
input. Response gives students the feeling
they're receiving attention.
If young people become comfortable with
computers at an early age, they may have better
success in jobs later in life. As idealistic as that
sounds, consider this: How many of us were
given the opportunity to use typewriters, adding
machines, industrial machinery, dental drills,
columnar pads, and other work-related tools so
early in life?
There's educational software to teach almost
any subject from shape and color recognition to
organic chemistry. And not all software is for
school use; many programs are designed for
preschoolers to use in the home. One popular
program that used to be included with the pur-
chase of an Apple was Lemonade Stand (now a
cult classic). It's fun to play, and it has the latent
function of teaching players some elementary
business economics.
Teachers Are People, Too. Not everyone
agrees that the computer is the best teaching
aide. Though there can be little doubt that ex-
posure to computers helps kids -learn about the
machines, some educators feel there is no
substitution for human interaction. A computer
can present material but it can't offer vocal rein-
forcement, a pat on the back, or even a smile.
And then there's software.
Few programmers are good teachers, and
few teachers are good programmers. One of the
problems with introducing computers into
schools is that sometimes teachers know as little
about computers as their students. Much educa-
tional software is available, but its quality is
questionable. There's bad software in all areas
of computing, noticeably in education. Also,
prices are often comparable to other kinds of
software, and schools don't have the money.
Another problem is that most microcom-
puters have 64K or less in RAM, which puts a
limit on what software programmers can
develop. Just how many chapters can be
crammed onto one disk?
Computers as part of education in the class-
room and at home are becoming more common;
to kids, the computer is another new tool, just
like books, pencils, crayons, and chalk and
chalkboards. As they learn the subjects that
computer programs teach, they learn to accept
computers as part of life.
Look How Far We've Come. Not long ago
computers were things of science fiction mov-
ies. Then they became bureaucratic monsters
that made life miserable for us at bill-paying
time. And then they were machines that other
people had and we were scared to touch.
Computers put everyone on the same level
as little kids; when you're a kid, everything is
new. The environment is for exploring. It was
fun to watch people at computer shows and
stores walk up to an unattended machine and
think about whether they should touch it or
not, and if they touched it, what it would do.
Wonder and discovery were part of the fun and
the magic.
Then computers became available to con-
sumers; first it was consumers with lots of
money, then it was consumers with almost lots
of money, and now it's consumers who wish
they had lots of money but don't— nonetheless,
they have enough for a home computer.
Computers entered the home, and we dis-
covered that there was little to fear. We control
them, not the other way around. They have
switches telling them whether they're on or off,
which only we humans can control. Computers
are tools like the calculator, clothes iron,
blender, food processor, and automobile;
they're not uncontrollable machines like robots
on The Twilight Zone.
About the same time we discovered com-
puters we found out what software is and how it
makes our interaction with computers easier.
The computer follows instructions given to it by
70
people. If we can't speak the computer's lan-
guage in order to communicate with it, there are
creatures called programmers who can. Pro-
grammers create software that makes it easy for
us to use the computer. This computer craze
just keeps getting better all the time, doesn't it?
In this section of Softalk we've covered how
to run commercial software. We've learned
what to do if things go wrong and how to reduce
the chances of similar disasters in the future.
We've taken the lid off the Apple and found out
what most of those chips are for, and we've
looked at how things are structured inside the
chips. Just as important, we took all those
words computer people like to use (and misuse)
and found out what they mean.
With this foundation of computer knowl-
edge, we can either use it to help us work more
at ease with computers or we can build upon it.
For those who wish to go on and learn program-
ming, more power to you. For everyone, even
those who are comfortable booting and using
software and will never even think about writ-
ing a line of Basic, there's still more to con-
sider. Fortunately, it's nontechnical.
You Say You Want a Revolution? A few
years ago, people started talking about a com-
puter revolution. "Dig in; it's coming," they
said. Actually, it was already happening, and
it's still happening. Almost everything we read
in the news about computers mentions how rap-
idly prices are dropping, how computers are be-
coming more common in schools and in homes,
and how they will affect our lives.
Books like Megatrends, The Third Wave,
and Future Shock are fascinating works that ex-
amine the future. They're fascinating because
they examine a future most of us won't be
around to see. Let's concern ourselves with the
immediate future.
Home computers have already affected our
lives; besides having reduced the size of our
bank accounts, they've changed the way we
think. While some people at the office reach
for a spreadsheet program or word processor
when work needs to be done, others come
home from work or school and boot up their fa-
vorite games. Both groups of people are likely
to wonder, "How did I ever get along without
my Apple?"
As we said many months ago, computers
don't let us do things that weren't possible
before; they just let us do them faster and
easier. Before VisiCalc and Multiplan there
were the green worksheets; before Wizardry
there was the board version of Dungeons &
Dragons; before Apple Writer there were pen-
cils, pens, and typewriters. That's how we got
along without our Apples.
So now we have computers, and we're using
them. And because they help us do so many
things more efficiently, it's easy to forget the
first thing we learned about computing — we are
the ones in charge. The way people in southern
California have become slaves to their cars,
some computer owners have likewise become
dependent on their machines. You know the
type; no matter how easy it is to pick up a per-
sonal phone directory and find Uncle Stephen's
number, they'll spend several minutes booting a
phone list database, looking for the right data
disk, and searching for the number.
SUDXLI
There's also the infamous computerized
Christmas card list. All you have to do to print
mailing labels for your holiday greeting cards is
press a key. Presto! In minutes, everybody's
name and address is on a label in beautiful dot-
matrix (or even letter-quality!) computer print.
Just imagine how touched the recipient will be
to receive such a personalized card.
Rehumanize Ourselves. The point is that
some things are done better the old way : Thank-
you notes to Mom and Dad are more effective if
they don't look like computerized junk mail;
balancing the checkbook is often easier by pen-
cil and paper if you don't write a lot of checks;
sometimes even business letters look better
when they're typed on a good-quality typewriter
than if they're computer-generated; it's more
fun to play checkers against a person than
against the Apple— computers don't "take
back" moves, which makes it harder to provoke
an argument. Apples are powerful tools, but
just because they're there doesn't mean we have
to use them all the time.
Ask this: "Why did I get a computer in the
first place?" Certainly the answer can't be "So
I could sit in front of a keyboard and screen
looking like a confused fool." Nope. It prob-
ably had something to do with any of three
things: to make some tasks easier, to use as an
educational tool for the kids, to give you the
power of a computer in the home or office. For
whatever reason, it was an expensive invest-
ment, which makes us feel obligated to use the
machine as often as possible.
Try to think of the computer in a different
way; think of it as we've often referred to it— as
a tool or a convenience. It's less troublesome to
pull the occasional weed or two instead of hir-
ing a gardener for the job. It's easier to scram-
ble a few eggs with a fork than to haul out the
Mixmaster. It's faster to walk next door for that
cup of sugar than to start up the car and drive.
(By the way, has anybody ever really borrowed
a cup of sugar from next door?)
As versatile as the computer is, it isn't for
everything. But it could be.
Sure, it's easier to write "lunch with the
boss on Wednesday" on a scrap of paper than it
is to boot Micro Paper Scraps and make a com-
puter entry; however, scraps of paper can
become lost and are sometimes forgotten. But
just because it's a hassle to use the computer for
certain tasks doesn't mean it will always be
that way.
If we think of the computer as a tool, it
becomes obvious that, like other tools, the com-
puter will go through refinement over and over
again, possibly forever. Look at televisions;
every year they get fancier, providing more
conveniences than before. (There's an anecdote
about a man who remarked that when televi-
sions first came out they had screens that were
only a few inches wide. Referring to today's
pocket-size televisions, he said, "It amazes me
how it took us thirty years to get them that
small again.")
Computers and Rolled-Up Newspapers.
Refining the computer is like training pets to do
tricks. Just as the Apple II hasn't the faintest
idea what you mean when you type, "Hello,
what's your name?", a month-old puppy
doesn't know what you mean when you give the
MAY 1984
command, "Sit!" To teach the puppy to sit, we
usually give the command while trying to push
its rear end to the ground. Heaven knows what
the puppy is thinking when some big two-legged
animal is playing games with the puppy's rear
end, but it eventually learns to associate the
word sit with planting its bottom to the ground.
Likewise, the computer was "taught" by pro-
grammers to display a disk's contents when
someone types catalog.
As the puppy grows up and becomes a dog,
we can teach it more sophisticated tricks like
shaking hands, rolling over, jumping up and
down like an idiot, and fetching Frisbees. Not
all dogs have what it takes to learn and perform
complicated tricks, and not all computers are
equally intelligent; they depend on their
creators and the software's programmer to
"teach" them to do sophisticated tricks.
Computers are getting more intelligent all
the time, but they're still far from being power-
ful enough to dominate us. It would be nice to
be able to type Give me the current value of the
English pound and have the computer under-
stand you, dial up an information service, find
out the value of the pound, and report back to
you. It would be even nicer to be able to just say
the words and have the computer understand
your voice and carry out the command. Some-
day it might.
In Beginners' Corner, we learned only the
basics about a lot of things. For those who wish
to learn more about programming and tinker-
ing, there are many other magazines and books
that cover such areas. There are even how-to
books that cover specific programs like dBase
II, VisiCalc, WordStar, and Apple Writer. It's
ironic that we buy computers to make our work
easier, only to find that we need books and
tutorials to make using the computer and its pro- I
grams easier.
It's Okay To Be Human, Too. Don't feel
bad if the urge to learn the sophisticated art of
programming doesn't hit you; it's a hobby and J
occupation to some, but it's not necessary for <
everyone who wants to use a computer. Years I
ago, you had to have at least a moderately
technical background to work with a computer.
Later, all you had to know were a few computer
commands and how to type. With Apple's Lisa !
and Macintosh all you have to know how to do !
is point and click; with Hewlett-Packard's HP
150 microcomputer, issuing commands has
been replaced by touching the screen.
Computer engineers make their living by
making machines easier for people to use. A lot j
of us used to feel uneasy around computers I
because we didn't understand them; some still
don't. The way computers are developing, soon 1
there may not be a lot to understand in order to
get our work done.
Technically oriented people will always be
around. For the rest of us, the day will come ;
when the computer evolves as the radio and
automobile did. Just switch it on and go. Con-
fusing and complicated as they can be, com-
puters are providing us with a wealth of stories
to tell the grandchildren ("Why, in those days
we had to actually memorize DOS com-
mands!").
In the meantime, have fun. These are the
good of days. !■
You don't have
to take it
anymore. • •
There's got to be
a better way. . .
And there is!
POSTAGE SAVER Ila
For Apple +, Apple lie, III emulation and lookalikes$15000
• Postage Saver Ila is just plain EASY
TO USE
• MORE THAN A MAILING LIST
PROGRAM
• Postage Saver Ila SAVES YOU TIME
• Postage Saver Ila SAVES MONEY
• MONEY BACK GUARANTEE
(when purchased direct from us)
... SO WHO NEEDS IT ... EVERYONE
Everyone has a Christmas card list, a list of birthdays and
anniversaries. Many have information lists of video films, stamp
and other collections and hobbies. Sure Postage Saver Ila has much
more power than needed for any of these, but that's okay ... it's so
easy to use, no complicated set ups, and maybe later you'll become
secretary to a club or organization...
CLUBS AND ORGANIZATIONS can use the mailing list features
(and possibly save some postage) and other information storage
such as membership dues, committee members, etc.
SMALL BUSINESSES will find Postage Saver Ila invaluable.
From the obvious mailing and information storage features to
simple invoices, general record keeping, automatic alphabetizing,
and letter merge capabilities are a few of the many uses. (We hear of
new uses every day — it's surprising even us). But the big PLUS is the
fast and easy information retrieval ... sorting by name, letter or
code.
Compare Postage Saver Has features with ANY program for
Apples... you'll find we're in a category by ourselves.
See your nearest friendly dealer, or to order or for
Information GRAY MATTER LIMITED
FEATURES
DATA ENTRY
• 1 to 19 lines of information per
entry • 30 to 570 characters per entry
• 4624 to 238 entries per data disk •
30 characters per line of information
• Upper and lowercase capability for
those without it • Define your own
line headings • Automatically saves
data to help prevent loss of data due
to power failure • Defineable left and
right margins • You can default any
line of information to save typing •
Enter names as quickly as you can
type • Use "ctrl p" for a screen dump
• Scroll thru your entries, forward
and backward
EDIT DATA
• Search for an entry by entry
number in less than 5 seconds •
Search for an entry by name, address,
city, state, zip code special code, any
character on any data line within 30
seconds • Once an entry is found,
you may edit it then and there • Only
the first character of an entry is
deleted for easy viewing •
Automatically deletes duplicates on 1
or 2 data disks
OUTPUT
• Send your data to your printer,
another disk or to your screen • Sort
by name, zip code or any special code
or group of characters on any data line
• Up to 5 different sorts may be
performed at once • Sort up to 99
data disks together into one list •
Every printout is dated and the total
number printed given • Print 1, 2, 3
or 4 wide labels • Label size is
definable • Uses up to 6 disk drives
• 80 or 136 column printer capability
• Allows for a test print for easy
paper setup • Can print each entry up
to 99 times • Print first name first or
last name first * Merge addresses
with any letter text file • Print return
address labels • Print entries in line
format • Print a single address block
on any individual piece of paper •
Print 1, all or any combination of data
lines you want • You can create
hundreds of different printouts
BULK MAIL
• Can print a separate label with the
state, 3 digit prefix and entire zip code
totals for easy bulk mailing
FRIENDLY
• Plain English error messages •
Tells you your drive door is open •
Checks to see if the correct disk is in
the correct drive • Allows you to
make quick data disk backup copies
• Access to any screen or menu is a
snap • Written entirely in assembly
language for speed that can't be beat
THE BEST FEATURE IS THE
EASE OF USE!!
© 1984 Bullseye Software
All Rights Reserved
POSTAGE SAVER Ila is a
Trade Mark ot Bullseye Software
Apple is a Registered Trade Mark
of Apple Computer, Inc.
P.O. Drawer 7900. Incline Village, NV 89450
or Phone (702) 83 1-2523 - 24 hours
I I I 1 J 1 I M *V'
LODE PUIfflEP, WIZARDRY
^M^mnm cold on apple ii
It's 1-2-3 for I-B-M and Catalyst for III; Archon, Star Raiders Take Atari
Top left: Accepting St. Game's 1983 Atari award for Archon
are authors Jon Freeman, Anne Westfall, and Paul Reiche III,
along with producer Joe Ybarra. Center: Jim Willis, district
manager of Lotus Development, accepts Softalk for the IBM
Personal Computer's 1983 award for 1-2-3 by Mitch Kapor.
Right: Two guys named Doug— publisher Carlston, left, and
programmer Smith— admire St.Game and Softalk awards for
Broderbund's Lode Runner.
□ At this year's Ninth West Coast Computer
Faire, held March 22-25 in San Francisco,
there were an awful lot of booksellers, some
very mediocre food, and little technical razzle-
dazzle. And those are about the only conclu-
sions everyone agreed on after this year's four-
day extravaganza in Baghdad by the Bay.
This year, fair ownership and management
passed from founder Jim Warren (engineer,
editor, and all-around New Age spirit) to Com-
puter Faire Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of
publishing giant Prentice-Hall— which may par-
tially explain the preponderance of printed mat-
ter at the event. The big corporation association
may also have had something to do with fewer
mom-and-pop operations and a fading of family
feeling as compared to past years.
Many veteran fair-watchers at least feigned
disillusionment. They shook their heads, saying
that it just wasn't the same homegrown hobbyist
haven that it used to be— last year, two years
ago, or eight years ago. Too few software pub-
lishers, they said; too many retailers; too many
computer illiterates crowding the aisles; and
enough cash registers clinking to make the
whole place seem like one giant electronic flea
market. But somewhere among the hucksterism
and PR, the cables and the floppy disks, the
pioneering spirit (due primarily to MacMania)
remained. Even those who affected a world-
weary attitude were there to talk about it.
There was, after all, something for every-
body. Conferences for independent sales or-
ganizations, educational forums, technical
seminars, user groups, lectures by industry
heavyweights, hands-on lessons in Macintosh
and PCjr usage, Softalk Publishing's software
awards ceremony (more on that later), and even
an organization called Computer Scientists for
MAY 1984
mmnt»
73
Top: Left to right, Robert Woodhead and Andrew
Greenberg, who conjured up the multiple-award-winning
Wizardry for Sir-tech, and Fred Sirotek, president. Below left:
Fred Simon, senior vice president of computer marketing,
picks up St.Game plaque for Atari all-time fave rave Sfar
Raiders. Below right: Quark Engineering outside sales man-
ager Keith Wood takes the Softalk Apple III 1983 award for
Catalyst, written by Tim Gill. Bottom: It was standing room
only at the Softalk Publishing awards ceremony at the West
Coast Computer Faire in San, Francisco's Civic Auditorium.
Social Responsibility (an antinuke group).
Hardware for sale, software for sale, balloons,
buttons, posters, and little Apple mouse pins.
Some people were having a fine old time.
Mac magicians Andy Hertzfeld and Burrell
Smith, enjoying well-deserved accolades from
the Macfaithful, thought the grassroots spirit of
the fair was reborn in Mac and the upcoming
products for it. Apple itself, with its eleven-
foot-high scale model of Macintosh at the front
of Brooks Hall, was easily the show's biggest
attention-getter. This could not have gone un-
noticed by IBM, whose neighboring booth had
a similar number of workstations (about twenty)
and respectable attendance. For next year, Big
Blue has reserved a spot in the next-floor Civic
Auditorium.
It was true that several major talents were
conspicuous by their absence. Sierra On-Line,
Infocom, and Adventure International were
nowhere to be found. On the other hand, Pen-
guins were there in flocks and garnering good
notices for the Mac version of their adventure
Transylvania. And Sir-tech previewed the work-
in-progress Macintosh version of Wizardry.
Some companies evidently felt that the (con-
siderable) cost of a booth was worth it in order
to connect one on one with the end user. Others,
such as Origin Systems, chose to attend as in-
dividuals, adopting a low profile to keep up
with industry trends, check out the competition,
make contacts, and visit with friends not seen
since the last show.
Finding a middle path was Broderbund
Software, which took a hospitality suite close
to the show site to demonstrate its just-about-
ready Print Shop, a super-looking Apple
package for designing greeting cards, fliers,
and banners using a wide range of choices of
74 @| S O P T A L K MAY 1984
graphics and text.
Debuting on the Apple II front was SunDog,
an animated graphic adventure from Faster
Than Light Games, part of Oasis Systems of
San Diego. The space-traveling players visit
fifty-seven cities on eighteen worlds in this
joystick-controlled trading game. The cover art
alone is so impressive that it had the publishers
wondering aloud why they hadn't printed it up
as a poster.
Equally as pretty for Apple III fans was
Draw On III, from On Three of Ventura,
California, a graphics tool that— at first glance,
at least— looks to do as much as MousePaint or
MacPaint on the Ill's siblings.
Other products notable and noted: a soon-to-
be-out hardware-software combination tele-
phone and program from Artsci; a program
from Pterodactyl that compiles IBM PC Basic
to run on the Lisa; a Lisa desktop calendar from
Videx, out in the fall; MacForth, by Creative
Solutions, precisely what its name implies;
Rails West!, a nineteenth-century business
strategy game from Strategic Simulations;
Rana Systems 's dual drive that can run IBM
software on an Apple; TNW Corporation's in-
telligent modem; and Apple's gift booth, which
sold something like $1,500 worth of T-shirts
and other goodies the first day alone.
Spotted in the crowd: Bill Budge (Pinball
Construction Set), who at six-foot-plus is hard
to miss; exactly one mime, perhaps a holdover
from nearby Marin County's autumn Renais-
sance Faire; and Robin Williams, in one of his
lesser-known roles as an Apple He owner.
As usual, the after-hours revelry was the
best atmosphere in which to win friends, in-
fluence people, and seek a consensus of percep-
tion on the microcomputer industry's future. As
last year, Microsoft threw an almost too self-
consciously upper-crust party in the 1920s
baroque-style Flood Mansion. There, high-tech
shoptalk clashed with old-world elegance;
longhairs in flannel-and-denim hackers' stan-
dard issue sipped white wine and scarfed down
oysters alongside executives in three-piece
pinstripes while listening to a jazz trio.
Softalk Publishing put on its Fourth Most
Popular Software Poll Awards ceremony Satur-
day evening to present plaques to overall first-
place winners in the 1983 and all-time catego-
ries. St. Game editor Andrew Christie presented
awards for Atari programs. Winning for 1983
was Electronic Arts's strategy game Archon,
accepted by authors Jon Freeman, Anne
Westfall, and Paul Reiche ITJ. Said Freeman
in his acceptance speech, "Those of you who
like Archon should probably find something in-
teresting coming out in about two months."
Star Raiders took all-time honors, as it did last
year. The award was accepted by Atari's Fred
Simon, who said, "After what we've been
through in 1983, this is a pleasant surprise."
St. Game associate editor Matthew Yuen
handed out the equivalent Apple awards. Bro-
derbund's Lode Runner was 1983's champ; the
plaques were accepted by programmer Doug
Smith and publisher Doug Carlston. Smith
said later that he's been home in Seattle working
on another game that will soon be released —
"I've got lots of wall space for plaques." The
all-time choice was Sir-tech's Wizardry, penned
by Robert Woodhead and Andrew Green-
berg. Again. Joshed Woodhead: "In the inter-
est of being brief, I think we deserved it total-
ly." Greenberg's two bits: "I never thought I'd
stand up here again before you, with Robert,
and still be smiling." Briefly serious, Sir-tech
president Fred Sirotek noted that Wizardry is
being translated into foreign languages and has
been used to talk kids out of suicide, to evaluate
prisoners, and to aid college students with their
coursework. "Time will tell whether it will be
a classic," he said. "Anyhow, it already has
one up on the Mona Lisa— it has been copied
more often."
Craig Stinson, editor of Softalk for the IBM
Personal Computer, presented a single award
for 1983 to the landslide winner— Mitch
Kapor's 1-2-3. It was accepted by district
manager Jim Willis of Lotus Development.
Softalk's publisher Al Tommervik, an in-
veterate Apple III fan, gave the Apple IU award
to Quark Engineering's Tim Gill for his Cata-
lyst, which lets the user put applications on hard
disk. Softalk president and editor-in-chief Mar-
got Comstock Tommervik presented the Softalk
Apple awards. Lode Runner snatched the year's
prize, while— what else?— Wizardry came away
with the overall honors.
By the fair's end, 44,850 people (official-
ly— a larger number of programs and badges
distributed suggests that an extra five thousand
may have entered by unkosher means; two peo-
ple have been arrested on suspicion of ticket
INTRODUCING
Ed-Venture™ stories,
the next generation
of educational software.
Now you and your family
can take a learning adventure
The first in the ED-
VENTURE series of
educational computer
stories from Blue
Ridge Software,
BACK IN TIME will
take you on an ex-
citing journey to an
era when the earth
was young, smoke
billowed from
volcanoes, and
dinosaurs reigned
as kings of the
tropical jungles.
Along the way,
you will meet and
learn about the in-
credible creatures ^jg£
of the prehistoric <gj
age. Exciting,
high quality
graphics will bring to life
the Brontosaurus, the Stegosaurus, the Diplodocus
and more. Upper and lower case text smoothly scrolls for easy reading.
BACK IN TIME is one in a series of ED-VENTURE computer stories written in the
familiar adventure format that can make learning an exciting experience. BACK IN
TIME is designed for ages 9 and up.
Ask for ED-VENTURE stories at your local software dealer or order direct from Blue
Ridge Software at 703-448-8080 (call collect). VISA and MASTERCARD accepted.
Available for Apple II, II+, lie. Soon to be on IBM PCjr.™ and Commodore 64™
1
m
UjQKE
SOFTWARE
P.O. Box 461
Merrifield, Virginia
22116
© Copyright 1984,
Blue Ridge Software Co.
ED- VENTURE is a trademark of
Blue Ridge Software Co.
Apple II, II + , lie are trademarks of
Apple Computer, Inc.
IBM PCjr. Is a trademark of
International Business Machines.
Commodore 64 is a trademark of
Commodore Electronics, Ltd.
APPLIED ENGINEERING IS 100% APPLE
Thar s Why We're So Good At It!
THE NEW TIMEMASTER II
« , ; riH.-r-M'.'.jH
Automatically date
stamps tiles with
PRO-DOS
NEW 1984
DESIGN
An official
PRO-DOS Clock
Just plug it in and your programs can read the year, month, date, day,
and time to 1 millisecond! The only clock with both year and ms.
A rechargeable NiCad battery will keep the TIMEMASTER II running
for over ten years.
Powerful 2K ROM driver — No clock could be easier to use.
Full emulation of most other clocks, including Thunderclock and
Appleclock (but you'll like the TIMEMASTER II mode better).
We emulate other clocks by merely dropping off features. We can
emulate them but they can't emulate us.
Basic, Machine Code, CP/M and Pascal software on 2 disks!
Eight software controlled interrupts so you can execute two programs
at the same time (many examples are included).
On- board timer lets you time any interval up to 48 days long down to
the nearest millisecond.
The TIMEMASTER II includes 2 disks with some really fantastic time
oriented programs (over 40) including appointment book so you'll
never forget to do anything again. Enter your appointments up to a
year in advance then forget them. Appointment book will remind you
in plenty of time. Plus DOS dater so it will automatically add the date
when disk files are created or modified. The disk is over a $200.00
value along— we give the software others sell. All software packages
for business, data base management and communications are made
to read the TIMEMASTER II. If you want the most powerful and the
easiest to use clock for your Apple, you want a TIMEMASTER II.
PRICE $129.00
Super Music Synthesizer
Improved Hardware and Software
Complete 1 6 voice music synthesizer on one card. Just plug it into
your Apple, connect the audio cable (supplied) to your stereo, boot
the disk supplied and you are ready to input and play songs.
It's easy to program music with our compose software. You will start
right away at inputting your favorite songs. The Hi- Res screen shows
what you have entered in standard sheet music format.
Now with new improved software for the easiest and the fastest
music input system available anywhere.
We give you lots of software. In addition to Compose and Play
programs, 2 disks are filled with over 30 songs ready to play.
Easy to program in Basic to generate complex sound effects. Now
your games can have explosions, phaser zaps, train whistles, death
cries. You name it, this card can do it.
Four white noise generators which are great for sound effects.
Plays music in true stereo as well as true discrete quadraphonic.
Full control of attack, volume, decay, sustain and release.
Will play songs written for ALT synthesizer (ALF software will not take
advantage of all our card's features. Their software sounds the same
in our synthesizer.)
Our card will play notes from 30HZ to beyond human hearing.
Automatic shutoff on power-up or if reset is pushed.
Many many more features. PRICE $159.00
Z-80 PLUS!
• TOTALLY compatible with ALL CP/M software.
• The only Z-80 card with a special 2K "CP/M detector" chip.
• Fully compatible with microsoft disks (no pre-boot required).
• Specifically designed for high speed operation in the Apple Me (runs
just as fast in the II+ and Franklin).
• Runs WORD STAR, dBASE II, COBOL-80, FORTRAN-80,
PEACHTREE and ALL other CP/M software with no pre-boot.
• A semi-custom I.C. and a low parts count allows the Z-80 Plus to fly
thru CP/M programs at a very low power level. (We use the Z-80A at
fast4MHZ.)
• Does EVERYTHING the other Z-80 boards do, plus Z-80 interrupts.
Don't confuse the Z-80 Plus with crude copies of the microsoft card. The
Z-80 Plus employs a much more sophisticated and reliable design. With
the Z-80 Plus you can access the largest body of software in existence.
Two computers in one and the advantages of both, all at an unbelievably
Viewmaster 80
There used to be about a dozen 80 column cards for the Apple, now
there's only ONE.
• TOTALLY Videx Compatible.
• 80 characters by 24 lines, with a sharp 7x9 dot matrix.
• On-board 40/80 soft video switch with manual 40 column override
• Fully compatible with ALL Apple languages and software— there are
NO exceptions.
• Low power consumption through the use of CMOS devices.
• All connections are made with standard video connectors.
• Both upper and lower case characters are standard.
• All new design (using a new Microprocessor based CRT. controller)
for a beautiful razor sharp display.
• The VIEWMASTER incorporates all the features of all other 80 column
cards, plus many new improvements.
VIEWMASTER
169
VES
YES
YES
YES
YES
YES
YES
YES
SUP'RTERM
MORE
NO
YES
NO
NO
NO
NO
YES
YES
WIZARD80
MORE
NO
NO
NO
NO
YES
NO
YES
YES
VISION80
MORE
YES
YES
NO
NO
YES
NO
NO
NO
OMNIVISION
MORE
NO
YES
NO
NO
NO
NO
YES
YES
VIEWMAX80
MORE
YES
YES
NO
NO
YES
NO
NO
YES
SMARTERM
MORE
YES
YES
NO
NO
NO
YES
YES
NO
VIDEOTERM
MORE
NO
NO
YES
NO
YES
YES
NO
YES
low price.
PRICE $139.00
The VIEWMASTER 80 works with all 80 column applications including CP/M,
Pascal, WordStar, Format II, Easywriter, Apple Writer II, VisiCalc, and all
others. The VIEWMASTER 80 is THE MOST compatible 80 column card you
can buy at ANY price! PRICE $179.00
Expands your Apple Me to 192K memory. MemoryMaster
Provides an 80 column text display.
Compatible with all Apple Me 80 column and extended 80 column
card software (same physical size as Apple's 64 K card).
Can be used as a solid state disk drive to make your programs run up
to 20 times FASTER (the 64K configuration will act as half a drive).
Permits your Me to use the new double high resolution graphics.
Automatically expands Visicalc to 95 K storage in 80 columns! The
64 K config. is all that's needed, 128K can take you even higher.
PRO-DOS will use the MemoryMaster I leas a high speed disk drive.
Me 128K RAM Card
• Precision software disk emulation for Basic, Pascal and CP/M is
available at a very low cost. NOT copy protected.
• Documentation included, we show you how to use all 192K.
If you already have Apple's 64 K card, just order the MEMORYMASTER Me with 64 K and use
the 64K from your old board to give you a full 128K. (The board is fully socketed so you
simply plug in more chips.)
MemoryMaster lie with 128K $249
Upgradeable MemoryMaster lie with 64K $169
Non-Upgradeable MemoryMaster Me with 64K $149
Our boards are far superior to most of the consumer electronics made today. All I.C.'s are in high quality sockets with mil-spec, components used throughout. P.C. boards are glass-
epoxy with gold contacts. Made in America to be the best in the world. All products work in theAPPLE HE, II, 11+ and Franklin. The MemoryMaster Me is lie only. Applied Engineering
also manufactures a full line of data acquisition and control products for the Apple; A/D converters and digital I/O cards, etc. Please call for more information. All our products are fully
tested with complete documentation and available for immediate delivery. All products are guaranteed with a no hassle THREE YEAR WARRANTY.
Texas Residents Add 5% Sales Tax
Add $10.00 If Outside U.S.A.
Dealer Inquiries Welcome
Send Check or Money Order to:
APPLIED ENGINEERING
P.O. Box 798
Carrollton, TX 75006
Call (214) 492-2027
8 am. to 1 1 p.m. 7 days a week
MasterCard, Visa & C.O.D. Welcome
No extra charge for credit cards
A
Strictly
Software
S O C T A I 1/
MAY 1984
Fly into
Spring
With
Strictly-
Soft Ware
Send for free catalog today.
Strictly Soft Ware 1-614-587-2938
To receive your free catalog right
away, send this coupon to the address
below. Do you want our □ Apple or
□ IBM Catalog?
NAME
STREET
STATE
CITY
( )
PHONE
Strictly Soft Ware
P.O. Box 338
Granville, OH 43023
ZIP
counterfeiting) got to check out 312 companies
exhibiting in 674 booths. This was just under
last year's figures and this year's projections.
Computer Faire Inc. prexy David Sudkin
called the show full to capacity and said it met
his expectations. Ninety-five percent of next
year's space has already been sold, with the re-
maining amount made up of the smallest, six-
by-six-foot booths favored by startup com-
panies and traditionally not taken until close to
exhibition time. The Tenth West Coast Com-
puter Faire will be March 21-24, 1985, again in
Civic Auditorium/Brooks Hall in downtown
San Francisco. JP
□ Penguin Software (Geneva, IL) has raised
the price of its single-sided games to $29.95.
Citing changes in development, production, and
advertising costs, the company is returning to
its pre-March 1983 prices. It was on that date
that the company embarked on a six-month pric-
ing experiment in which each recreational soft-
ware package was priced at $19.95, in the hope
that volume would make up for the difference in
revenue. The experiment was a success. "If we
could support ourselves and grow on volume
alone, we'd be fine," says Penguin president
Mark Pelczarski. "But costs like advertising
and development haven't remained proportional
with the market." Most of Penguin's future
software will take more than a year of develop-
ment time, he explains. This is because most of
the Apple software will be written for 128K,
double-hi-res machines, a more time-consum-
ing format in which to work.
□ Adventure International (Long wood, FL)
has announced a reduction in prices for its
newest adventures, including the Marvel
Comics tie-in line (which starts with The Hulk,
to be released this month). The new price is
$24.95, down ten dollars from the standard
$34.95. Prices on adventures already released
will stay at $34.95 for the time being, but may
drop to the new level. Citing reasons for the
price reduction, a marketing spokesperson for
the company said, "There's a lot of competition
out there." Also, the company announced that
the AI line of arcade games, previously $34.95,
will now retail for $19.95.
□ Publishers interested in registering their
programs to be nominated for the Annual Soft-
ware Gold Disk Awards can contact Kapri In-
ternational Distributors (Sun Valley, CA).
Categories open for nomination include busi-
ness, recreation, education, utility, home, word
processing, and database. For 1984's awards,
graphics, screen display, music, utility
originality, character originality, and best pro-
grammer of the year have been added. The pro-
grams will be judged for nomination by a
twelve-member panel of retailers and users, and
then sent to a select group of twenty thousand
retailers and users. The winners will be an-
nounced and presented a gold plaque at the
Winter CES in January, 1985.
□ Microsoft (Bellevue, WA) has announced
the appointment of Jerry Ruttenbur to the post
of vice president of the retail sales division.
Ruttenbur comes to the company from Koala
Technologies, where he was vice president of
sales, after serving with Atari Personal Com-
puters and Warner. Previously responsible for
Microsoft public relations, Pam Edstrom will
be joining the Waggener Group (Portland,
OR). Her position of director of public relations
at Microsoft will be taken by Marty Taucher.
□ International Grandmaster and U.S. Chess
Champion Larry Christiansen has concluded
an endorsement agreement with Cyber Enter-
prises (Cerritos, CA). Christiansen will en-
dorse the company's Cyber chess and all related
items, according to Norbert Mikum, company
president. Christiansen achieved Chess Master
status at age fourteen and was an International
Grandmaster at twenty. He currently holds a na-
tional rating of more than 2,650 and an interna-
tional rating of above 2,550.
□ Clifford Emerick has joined Rhino Robots
(Champaign, IL) as marketing director to
launch a new dealer program. He will be ex-
pected to place the company's fully program-
mable, mobile Scorpion robot with twelve hun-
dred dealers during 1984. Emerick comes to
Rhino from a stint with software publisher
Duosoft.
□ Sherwin A. Steffin, cofounder and vice
president, research and development, for
EduWare (Agoura Hills, CA) has been ap-
pointed to the Mayor's Education Advisory
Committee by Los Angeles Mayor Tom Brad-
ley. Steffin is an educational technologist ex-
perienced in application of technology to cur-
riculum development. The committee will ad-
vise Mayor Bradley on important educational
issues upon which his administration may have
some impact.
□ Broderbund (San Rafael, CA) has named
Nick Ragouzis to the post of vice president and
general manager of the company's business soft-
ware division. He will be in charge of taking the
necessary steps to develop a more comprehen-
sive line of business and professional software
for Broderbund, known primarily for their
games. First steps will be an upgrading of the
packaging and documentation for the current
business line and extensive promotion of that
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O
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The Flo-Thru On-Goto
The hardest part of any monthly column is
always the first paragraph. Add to that the fact
that it's the first paragraph of the first column of
a series and it's enough to cause a permanent
catatonic state. . . .
Whew! Now that we've got that out of the
way, let's talk about what direction The Basic
Solution is going to take over the next year.
This column has a number of general goals
and principles behind it. The main one is to help
you expand your abilities to put Applesoft Basic
to work for you in solving the problems you
have. To accomplish this, we'll try to show di-
rect and efficient solutions to specific problems
and in the process explore the general topic of
problem-solving as a skill.
The one hundred or so commands that com-
prise Basic can be considered sort of an "ulti-
mate Erector set" that can be manipulated by
the user to create an almost infinite variety of
applications. It is interesting to note how often a
user of an application like a spreadsheet pro-
gram says, "No, I'm not a programmer. I just
use applications software like Spiffy-Calc ."
With a little thought, however, one realizes
that in setting up a simple template to use Spiffy-
Calc, an entire orderly structure and sequence
of instructions must be set up to properly yield
the correct results when the data is entered.
Sounds like programming! Henceforth, let no
readers of this column think themselves incapa-
ble or unworthy of dabbling in that arena some-
times referred to as "programming." Program-
ming is just the process of telling the computer
what you want it to do on a time-delayed basis.
Furthermore, it's important to realize that
the power of the computer lies implicitly in the
fact that it is programmable. When you run only
one or two prewritten programs on a computer,
you have reduced its significance to that of a
toaster. Toasters do specific tasks. Computers
are chameleons of function.
By learning how to properly instruct your
computer, you can tap into the infinite potential
of your investment and discover a channel for
your creative efforts that is unequaled.
This column will not attempt to teach you
Basic. There are many fine books on the sub-
ject and a column within the pages of Softalk
(Follow the Floating Point) that will help you
with that.
Instead, it will be assumed that you are al-
ready more or less familiar with the overall
structure of a Basic program and with the com-
mands available. Our purpose here will be to in-
struct you in the focused application of those
commands to help you cross that bridge to being
able to program what you want. A toolbox does
not a carpenter make. The command list of Ba-
sic is your toolbox. Here you will learn how to
put it to use.
The Magic of On-Goto. One of the more
neglected commands in Applesoft is the on X
goto command. Its most common use is in the
construction of menus within a program. If you
haven't heard or thought about the on X goto
syntax before, your menus may look something
like this:
10 HOME: REM PRINT MENU
20 PRINT "1) PRINT A RECORD"
30 PRINT "2) DISPLAY A RECORD"
40 PRINT "3) QUIT THIS PROGRAM"
50 INPUT "WHICH ITEM DO YOU WANT?
(1-3)";X
55 IF X< 1 OR X>3 THEN 10
60 IFX = 1 GOTO 100
70 IF X = 2 GOTO 200
80 IF X = 3 GOTO 300
100 REM PRINT A RECORD
110 GOTO 10
200 REM DISPLAY A RECORD
210 GOTO 10
300 REM END THE PROGRAM
310 END
You'll notice that this program requires
three individual lines to process the menu selec-
tion (not counting the range check on line 55).
Now, as a clever programmer you might have
saved a line in your program by realizing that
the test for X = 1 can be omitted by letting the
program flow "fall through" to the first routine
section like this:
50 INPUT "WHICH ITEM DO YOU WANT?
(1-3)";X
55 IF X< 1 OR X>3 THEN 10
70 IF X = 2 GOTO 200
80 IF X = 3 GOTO 300
100 REM PRINT A RECORD
110 GOTO 10
With on X goto, however, even greater
economy is possible. A typical part of a pro-
gram with its usual use might look like this:
10 HOME: REM PRINT MENU
20 PRINT "1) PRINT A RECORD"
30 PRINT "2) DISPLAY A RECORD"
40 PRINT "3) QUIT THIS PROGRAM"
50 INPUT "WHICH ITEM DO YOU WANT?
(1-3)";X
55 IF X< 1 OR X>3 THEN 10
60 ON X GOTO 100,200,300
100 REM PRINT A RECORD
110 GOTO 10
200 REM DISPLAY A RECORD
210 GOTO 10
300 REM END THE PROGRAM
310 END
Now we have just one line doing the work of
three. The logic here is that after printing the
menu and requesting a menu number from the
user, line 60 will execute a goto statement to
one of three lines, depending on the value of X.
The on X goto function works by evaluating X
and then selecting the line to jump to based on
the value of X. If X is 1 , then the first line value
(100) will be used. If X is 2, then the second
(200), and if X is 3, then the third (300).
Easy enough, and certainly better than all
those if-thens.
But now for some fun. One of the things to
remember, if you want to discover all that your
computer can do, is to not be afraid of asking
what happens when you don't follow the rules.
As long as the result is predictable (even if
unorthodox), it can become another ingredient
in your programmer's bag of tricks.
In this case, what happens if X is less than 1
or greater than 3? The answer is that none of the
gotos are executed, and program flow goes to
the next statement on the line. (Program flow is
a term that will be used throughout this series,
and refers to the path through your program that
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Applesoft follows as the program runs.)
The position occupied by X in the on X goto
statement can also be a calculated quantity. We
can put all this together for an even snorter
setup:
50 INPUT "WHICH ITEM DO YOU WANT?
(1-3)";X
55 IF X<1 OR X>3 THEN 10
60 ON X-1 GOTO 200,300
100 REM PRINT A RECORD
110 GOTO 10
Now, if X = 1 , the expression X — 1 will give
a result of 0, and the program flow will go di-
rectly to line 100. If X=2, X-1 will be 1, and
a goto 200 will be performed. A value of 3 for
X will make X-1 equal to 2, so the goto 300
will be taken.
For curiosity's sake, you may be interested
to know that this last program has saved a total
of twenty-two bytes over the original multiple
if-then version. Not enough for another hi-res
screen perhaps, but not bad for a simple trick
either!
On X Goto as a Multiple If-Then. In the
venerable Integer Basic, multiple if-then state-
ments can be put on a single line. This is be-
cause— contrary to the way Applesoft handles
things— if an if-then test fails in Integer Basic,
program flow continues with the next statement
on the line. In Applesoft, when an if-then test
fails, the program flow jumps to the next pro-
gram line.
This can be useful on occasion, because the
if-then test can be used to "shield" the other
statements on the line until they are needed. For
example:
'YOU
YOU
10 INPUT "YES OR NO:";l$
20 IF l$ = "YES" THEN PRINT
ENTERED YES!":GOTO 10
30 IF l$ = "NO" THEN PRINT '
ENTERED NO.":GOTO 10
40 PRINT'ARE YOU BEING
DIFFICULT?":END
In this program, if a particular test succeeds,
then a phrase is printed, and in the case of lines
20 and 30, program flow goes back to line 10.
This is possible because in Applesoft, when the
test fails, the remainder of that particular line is
ignored, and program flow goes to the next ac-
tual line number. Here, this is an advantage.
But what about the next program?
10 INPUT"ENTER YES OR NO:";l$
20 ON LEFT$(l$,1)o"Y" GOTO 70
30 PRINT "Y'S A GOOD START"
40 IF MID$(I$,2)<>"E" GOTO 10
45 PRINT"E IS FOR EVERY GOOD BOY
DESERVES FAVOR"
50 IF l$o"YES" GOTO 10
55 PRINT "AND S MAKES Y-E-SI": GOTO 10
70 IF l$ = "NO" THEN PRINT"ARE YOU
BEING NEGATIVE?":GOTO 10
80 IFI$ = "N"THEN PRINT "DON'T BE
SHORT WITH ME!":GOTO 10
90 PRINT" UNDECIDED?":END
This program tests all inputs that begin with
a Y and prints certain responses depending on
the input. Line 20 checks to see if the first
character is a Y. If it is, line 30 prints the first
response phrase. Lines 40 and 45 check for and
respond to an E as the second character, and
lines 50 and 55 complete the process. If the sec-
ond or third tests fail along the way, program
flow returns to line 10 to reask the question.
It is a shame, though, that line 20 and each
successive if-then must be used all by them-
selves for each test. By using the "flow-
through" nature of on X goto, though, we can
combine everything onto a single line:
10 INPUT'ENTER YES OR NO:";l$
20 ON LEFT$(l$,1)o"Y" GOTO 70:
PRINT "Y'S A GOOD START:
ON MID$(I$,2)< A"E" GOTO 10:
PRINT'E IS FOR EVERY GOOD BOY
DESERVES FAVOR":
ON l$o"YES" GOTO 10:
PRINT "AND S MAKES Y-E-S!":
GOTO 10
70 IF l$ = "NO" THEN PRINT'ARE YOU
BEING NEGATIVE?":GOTO 10
80 IF l$ = "N" THEN PRINT "DON'T BE
SHORT WITH ME!":GOTO 10
90 PRINT"UNDECIDED?":END
For purposes of readability, line 20 has been
listed with one statement per line on the page,
even though it would not normally be entered
this way.
The first new concept here is substituting the
usual arithmetic calculation of X to a logical
operation. Logical operations test the true or
false nature of a comparison (for equality or
greater-than/less-than) and return a result equal
to 0 or 1 . A 0 indicates that the comparison
failed; a 1 indicates that it succeeded.
At the beginning of line 20, if the first char-
acter of the response string (1$) is not a Y, pro-
gram flow will jump to line 70 in the bottom
half of the program. If the first character is a Y,
program flow will continue with the next state-
ment on the line. Again, a logical operation
comparison is done on the input string, an on-
goto is used to branch out of the line if the
test fails.
This sort of sequence can be repeated as of-
ten as you wish within the usual limits on line
length, and you may use any logical comparison
or arithmetic expression to produce the result
for the on-goto that you desire.
Study the first listing thoroughly until you
are comfortable with the ideas behind each
statement. If a particular item like the MID$
function is still a little fuzzy, don't hesitate to go
back and check your Applesoft Basic Program-
ming Reference Manual. The manual is meant
to be used like a dictionary, not read like a
novel. The more prolific the programmer, the
more his manuals look as if they've doubled for
phone booth yellow pages!
Next month, there will be another Basic
Solution. Ideally, we would like to respond to
your problems and suggestions, so why not set a
pad by your computer now and start keeping a
list of all those little annoyances you'd like to
send to somebody else? We're not looking for
(and probably will politely ignore) questions
like, "How do I write a database?" We hope to
get questions like, "How do I find the third let-
ter in a string?" or tips like, "Here's a neat way
to use one if-then where you used to need two!"
Thanks to Craig Peterson for the on X goto
tip for this month. Until next month— Happy
Appling! 31
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The love of learning
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5 1983 The Learning
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Next to your love, you can give your
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e ochoonouse
A
by Carol Ray
Telelearning, Traveling Computers, and More
The Personal Connection. For anyone
who's been through the correspondence school
experience, or who has attempted to juggle a
busy schedule around night school one or two
evenings a week, or who is housebound due to
physical incapacity or some other reason,
Telelearning Systems of San Francisco just
might be the answer. On March 8, at a press
conference in New York attended by Donald
Senese, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of Educa-
tion, and a number of college and university
presidents and deans, a student was enrolled in
an accredited college course to be taught
through a home computer — the first of its kind
anywhere.
The student's name is Bobby Cugini. The
victim of an automobile accident that left him
without the use of his legs, Cugini is going to be
working for his B. A. at Edison State College in
Trenton, New Jersey. Edison is one of the more
than two hundred colleges and universities cur-
rently evaluating and developing courses to be
offered over Telelearning 's Electronic Univer-
sity network. Others include Ohio University,
the University of Wisconsin, the New York In-
stitute of Technology, and San Diego State
University.
The classes available through the Electronic
University system prepare students to take sub-
ject exams offered by the College Level Ex-
amination Program. All such tests are given by
the College Board. There are one thousand
CLEP test centers; students can choose the one
most convenient for them. Test scores are then
sent to any of the seventeen hundred colleges
and universities that offer appropriate college
credits based on their ratings of CLEP scores.
The course listings for the Electronic
University include classes in the areas of pro-
fessional and career development, home educa-
tion, and self-improvement/hobbies. These
range from "Starting and Managing Your Own
Business" to "The California Wine Connois-
seur." In addition, students can prepare for
proficiency exams or college credit exams by
enrolling in basic-level classes in either the hu-
manities or business. Test-taking strategies are
the focus of a series of courses designed for
those planning to take such professional exams
as the MCAT, the LSAT, or the CPA examina-
tion. Finally, several courses are offered that
provide a practical introduction to personal
computers and their applications.
How Is It All Possible? By now you're prob-
ably thinking that in order to get involved in the
Electronic University, you've either got to be a
telecommunications whiz, an oil magnate, or
both. Wrong! In fact, all you really need is
about ninety dollars for the Electronic Univer-
sity software and Telelearning Knowledge
Module, which work with your telephone and
an Apple II, IBM PC, or Commodore 64.
Classes cost anywhere from $35 to $100, with
all communications costs included in the course
price.
So far, so good. But what about all the pro-
tocols, user codes, and log-in sequences (not to
mention lost messages and network shutdowns)
that you've heard so much about? Well, thanks
to the three public networks in the Telelearning
system— Tymnet, Telenet, and Uninet— any
problems with a network connection will cause
the system to switch to the secondary network,
and to the third if another problem is found. To
counteract errors in transmission, a high-level
protocol verifies all data sent (both to and from
the home computer) and automatically causes a
retransmission whenever an error is detected.
Unlike other telecommunications products,
the Telelearning system incorporates into soft-
ware all the protocols needed to turn a personal
computer into a host computer. File transfer,
message storage, and transmission of digitized
photographs or graphics are all done automati-
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dialing is accomplished without a "smart"
modem.
Once you become a student at the Electronic
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assigned an electronic memory mailbox number
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On the Road Again. "Chips and Changes"
is the name of a traveling exhibition organized
by the Association of Science-Technology
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Cosponsored by the National Endowment for
the Humanities and the Intel Corporation, the
exhibition uses interactive computer displays,
robotics, audiovisual presentations, and live
demonstrations of microelectronic products and
services to show how microchips are changing
the way Americans work, play, learn, and
think.
In an effort to demonstrate the educational
potential of personal computers in the home and
classroom, Scholastic Inc. will be showing two
of its Wizware products, Spelldiver and Agent
USA, as part of the event. Spelldiver is designed
to increase word recognition and retention,
build vocabulary, and strengthen spelling skills,
as players dive underwater to uncover giant
words hidden by "lettermoss. " Agent USA
challenges the player's planning and problem-
solving abilities in an action-adventure game.
Scholastic's two computing magazines, Family
Computing and K-Power, will also be displayed
throughout the exhibition with the aid of a
mobile robot.
"Chips and Changes" is currently
scheduled to open at the Oregon Museum of
Science and Industry in Portland on June 9 and
run through August 5. Beginning on January
26, 1985, and continuing through March 24, the
Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago
will be the exhibition's host. Other show dates
in 1985 are as follows: April 13- June 9, the Sci-
ence Museum of Virginia in Richmond; June
29- August 25, the Museum of Science in Bos-
ton; September 14-November 10, the Franklin
84
mmn
MAY 1984
Institute in Philadelphia; and November
30-January 26, 1986, the North Carolina Mu-
seum of Life and Science in Durham. Dates and
locations for the remainder of 1984 have yet to
be announced.
For more information, contact Avery Hunt
at Scholastic, (212) 505-3410.
Teaching Pascal. Craig Nansen, a teacher
at Minot High School in Minot, North Dakota,
has developed an eighteen-week course in Pas-
cal programming. A description of the course
was published in a two-part article in Electronic
Learning, copies of which are available from
the author (address follows). The course is
designed for high school students who are get-
ting their first exposure to a programming
language.
Topics for the first nine weeks of the course
include "Introduction to the Editor and Filer,"
"Introduction to Pascal," "Working with
Loops," and "Introduction to Functions."
During the ninth week a three-day test is given,
in which students are required to write and cor-
rect short programs and to solve problems while
at the computer. The second half of the course
introduces students to strings, arrays, the binary
number system, and record keeping. Weeks 17
and 18 are spent reviewing course material, fin-
ishing up term projects, and taking a three-day
final exam.
Sample programs, tests, quizzes, and other
handouts are contained on a series of twenty
disks, copies of which can be obtained by
writing to Craig Nansen, 1112 Glacial Drive,
APPLE to Burroughs
or
IBM-PC to Burroughs
Interfacing
• TD830/MT983 Terminal Emulation
• File Transfer Software
• Mark-Sense reader interfacing to Burroughs
for automated test grading, etc. (Apple only)
• Addressable Printer Option
• Complete Selection of Burroughs-to-Micro
hardware
- Asynchronous modem connect
- Synchronous modem connect
- TDI Direct Connect
- Concatenation (Daisy Chain) port
- Printer port
• Easily Installed
MIDWEST DATA SOURCE, INC.
• 1010 NIMITZ ROAD. CINCINNATI , OHIO 45230 513-231-2023
• 33 HARBOR LAKE CR SAFETY HARBOR. FL 33572 813-726-3320
Minot, ND 58701. There is a five-dollar charge
for each disk.
Conference News. The sixth annual Na-
tional Educational Computing Conference will
be held June 13-15 in Dayton, Ohio. Confer-
ence organizers, which include thirteen sci-
entific and professional groups interested in
educational computing, have announced four
major objectives: to present in one forum major
advances regarding the use of computers in in-
struction; to promote interaction among individ-
uals at all levels who are involved in using com-
puters for instruction; to coordinate the various
professional groups devoted to educational com-
puting; and to produce a proceedings report giv-
ing the status of computers in education.
For more information, contact Lawrence A.
Jehn, Computer Science Department, Universi-
ty of Dayton, Dayton, OH 45469; (513)
229-3831.
The Association for Small Computer Users
in Education will hold its annual conference
June 17-20 at Western Kentucky University in
Bowling Green. Special emphasis will be given
to such topics as academic computing, robotics,
computer applications in libraries, and effective
use and control of institutional word processing.
For more information, contact Dudley Bryant,
Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green,
KY 42101; (502) 745-0111.
Summer Session. The third annual Stanford
Institute on Microcomputers in Education will
sponsor two five-week sessions this summer,
the first from June 25 through July 27, and the
second from July 30 through August 3 1 . Both
sessions will offer hands-on instruction in pro-
gramming, word processing, and administrative
computing, as well as guest speakers, field
trips, and equipment demonstrations. Educa-
tors, administrators, and researchers interested
in staying abreast of the latest applications of
microcomputer technology in education are en-
couraged to apply early, as enrollment in the in-
stitute is limited. No prior experience or special
skills are needed. As part of their instruction,
participants will have the opportunity to observe
youngsters at the Stanford University Computer
Tutors camp.
For further information about the institute,
on-campus housing, financial aid, and the
camp, contact the Stanford Institute on Micro-
computers in Education, Box K, Stanford, CA
94305; (415) 322-4640.
Lesley College in Cambridge, Massachu-
setts, is offering an intensive, week-long sum-
mer course for professionals entitled "Micro-
computers in Special Education: Today's Chal-
lenge." Participants will hear a combination of
presentations by leading researchers and practi-
tioners in both special education and microcom-
puter technology. They will also have the op-
portunity to participate in panel discussions and
hands-on sessions at the Lesley College Micro-
computer Laboratory. Little or no experience
with microcomputers is assumed.
Some of the topics to be covered are Logo
and its applications in teaching students with
learning disabilities, language disorders, and
physical handicaps; computer-assisted instruc-
tion in areas such as language arts, math, and
science; the evaluation of software for use with
special-needs students; and model programs
currently in use in New England combining spe-
cial education and microcomputers. Partici-
pants will be encouraged to develop individual
projects for classroom use in their own school
systems.
The session will run from Monday, July 16,
through Friday, July 20, from 9:00 to 4:00
daily. Brochures and registration information
can be obtained by contacting the Lesley Col-
lege Graduate School, Division of Education,
29 Everett Street, Cambridge, MA 02238;
(617) 868-9600, ext. 367. Hi
ThelfaiDBJCjf
IHETURXLE
A Schoolhouse Apple
Tu t o r i a I
LOGO
DOflfIA BEARDEfl
Spirolaterals
What do the following designs have in com-
mon?
If you said they're all interesting, we'll ac-
cept that. If you said they all seem to include
some sort of spiral, you're on the right track.
The designs were all made with variations of the
same spirolateral procedure.
Spirolaterals are made following a certain
kind of mathematical pattern. Mathematical pat-
terns show up everywhere — in the shapes of
leaves, the placement of sunflower seeds, the
numbers of petals on flowers, the construction
of seashells. Spirolaterals, believe it or not,
came from studying the feeding patterns of pre-
historic worms. There's probably another arti-
cle or two here, but for now, we'll concentrate
on the patterns and the Logo experience.
A spirolateral is a series of lines and turns,
repeated over and over. To construct a spirolat-
eral, select a series of numbers. To keep it sim-
Our
competition's
43% price
reduction says
a lot about
Terrapin Logo.
About a year ago, Terrapin
Logo, the Unofficial Apple® Logo,
became a big, big seller. That's
because people like you realized
that for performance and price
you really couldn't do any better.
Recently, the Official Apple
Logo lowered its price by 43%.
That should tell you something
about their product. And it should
tell you something about ours.
Terrapin Logo
Official Logo
Saving
Pictures on Disk
Yes
No
Word & List
Tutorial
Yes
No
Word & List
Commands
Yes
Yes
User-Defined
Error Handling
No
Yes
Program Tracing
Capability
Yes
No
Workspace
Larger
Smaller
Suggested Retail
Price
$99.95
$99.95
Now, Terrapin Logo and the Offi-
cial Apple Logo cost the same.
But the similarity ends there.
Check the chart for yourself.
When all is said and done, it's
easy to see why Terrapin Logo,
the Unofficial Apple Logo, is still
better than the official one.
Ask for Terrapin Logo at soft-
ware dealers everywhere. Or call
us directly for further information.
1BW m TM
Terrapin
Terrapin, Inc., 222 Third Street,
Cambridge, MA 02142 (617) 492-8816
Terrapin Logo runs on the Apple II, II + , lie and Franklin computers, and requires 64K RAM.
Franklin is a trademark of Franklin Computer Corporation. Apple is a registered trademark of Apple Computer, Inc.
86
pie, make them multiples of ten. Let's start with
three numbers, 30, 10, and 40, and a 90-degree
turn. SPIRO can be defined as:
TO SPIRO
FD 30 LT 90
FD 10 LT 90
FD 40 LT 90
END
How many times would you have to repeat
SPIRO to draw a closed figure? Suppose we
change the left turn to 120. Can we draw a
closed figure? And if we change the turn to 60?
MAY 1984
1
1
Each question you ask about a spirolateral
suggests another exploration. Let's add another
number (side and turn) to the series and see
what happens. We'll also define the procedure
using a variable for the angle to make it easier to
try different figures.
TO SPIRO :A
FD 30 LT :A
FD 10 LT :A
FD 40 LT :A
FD 20 LT :A
END
Now when we try the procedure with a
90-degree mm, the figure does not close. With
a 120-degree turn, it closes with three repeti-
tions, and with a 60-degree turn it closes with
three repetitions.
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Take some time to explore. Try varying
your series of numbers, as well as varying the
number of numbers in your series. In all likeli-
hood, your curiosity will be aroused, for there
seems to be a pattern to the pattern. Let's set up
a logical series of steps to search out the mathe-
matical pattern of closing and nonclosing
figures.
Varying the series itself doesn't affect
whether a figure closes or doesn't close. In
other words, if we have five numbers in the se-
ries, 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50, it doesn't matter in
what order we arrange them. SPIRO with a
90-degree turn will close with four repetitions;
with 120, it will close with three repetitions;
and with 60, it will close with six repetitions.
Each of the numbers in the series represents a
forward movement or a side. It is the number of
sides that determines whether a figure closes.
With that in mind, let's set up a chart with a
number of sides and turning angles. We'll fill in
the chart with the number of times the
spirolateral procedure must be repeated to close
the figure. If it doesn't close, we'll indicate it
with DC. We'll work with the angles that pro-
duce triangles, squares, pentagons, hexagons,
octagons, and, just for fun, stars. The first two
rows are filled in for you.
Angles
Sides
120
90
72
60
45
144
5
3
4
DC
6
8
DC
6
DC
2
5
DC
4
5
7
8
9
10
11
12
If you've been editing your spirolateral pro-
cedure over and over to add another FD and LT
command, you've probably figured out that
there's an easier way to work with it. Define the
SPIRO procedure with three variables, one for
the side, one for the angle, and one for a counter
so that you can vary the number of sides each
time without redefining the procedure. Since
the order of the numbers in the series doesn't
matter for what we're doing, we'll set up a pro-
cedure that draws sides in increments of ten.
TO SPIROA :S :A :C
IF :C = 0 [STOP]
FD :S LT :A
SPIRO.A :S + 10 :A:C - 1
END
By using a counter, we can indicate how
many sides we want. SPIRO.A 10 90 13 will
draw a SPIRO with thirteen sides, each side ten
turtle steps longer than the previous one.
Now it will be easier to continue to explore.
Try figures with thirteen to twenty-one sides. If
you have filled in the chart and continued with
your own chart, you should be able to predict
which figures will close and which will not for
any number of sides. You also should see some
important patterns of related geometric shapes,
triangles and hexagons, squares and octagons,
stars and pentagons.
When the number of sides becomes very
big, some figures will not fit on the screen. Re-
define SPIRO to draw sides in increments of
five, or even two or one. And explore some
more— you'll discover some beautiful designs.
Here are two variations of the SPIRO procedure .
TO SPIRO.C :S :A :C
IF :C = 0 [STOP]
FD :S LT :A
SPIRO.C :S + 2 :A :C - 1
END
TO SPIROD :S :A :C
IF :C = 0 [STOP]
FD :S LT :A
SPIROD :S + 1 :A:C - 1
END
SPIRO.C 2 60 31
SPIROD 1 60 31
There are many other ways we can explore
with spirolaterals. We could alternate left and
right turns, for example, or use one right turn in
a series of left turns. Will that have any effect
on whether a figure closes? Try it and find out.
Here are two figures, each with seventeen
sides. The procedure includes left and right
turns and the following series of numbers: 5,
15, 10, 20, 15, 25, 20, 30, 25, 35, 30, 40, 35,
45, 40, 50, 45.
And if any of you get so excited about spiro-
laterals, here is a phone number you can call at
any time of the day or night. (Oops, it's in a
spirolateral and I've lost the procedure, so
you'll have to figure it out from the design.)
Minutes'
Worth
of Reading.
N E A
Compatible with
Apple, IBM, PC Jr.
and Commodore 64,
Davidson.
Educational Software that Works.
6069 Groveoak Place, #12
Rancho Palos Verdes,
CA 90274 (213) 373-9473
Does
your Apple
leave -
We've got speed, performance and 3,000 new applications
to satisfy that appetite.
Introducing the Digital Research CP/M Gold Card™ The
pick of the hardware crop for your Apple® Computer.
Just plug it into any slot in your Apple II, 11+ or He, and you
get a new generation machine that runs CP/M Plus™ and
all those programs it could never handle before.
Impressive, but not surprising. After all, who better
than the creators of CP/M®to perfect it for your Apple?
And if you thought your Apple was a bit slow, chew on this.
We combined CP/M Plus, the Z80B microprocessor
and optional Disk Cache to push your Apple to perform
up to three times faster than any of the competition.
With the speed to handle programs like dBase IT
in half the time. And we've included CBASIC®so you can write
customized programs.
It even boosts your monitor's CP/M output to full 80 column
video. And those are just the basics.
For serious programmers we
also included a macro-assembler
and symbolic debugger. Explaining
it all in two complete manuals.
It all comes down to this. Soon
there will be two kinds of Apple users.
s ^V* Those with the CP/M Gold Card. And
f t S
13 DIGITAL
RESEARCH
We make computers work.5
those who are still hungry for one.
The products and corporate logos referred to herein may be trademarks or registered trademarks of the companies indicated.
The Digital Research logo and products are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Digital Research Inc
©1984 Digital Research Inc All rights reserved.
SAMS SPUD
IS ONE
HOT POTATO.
Sams SPUD is the 2 player game that's so fast, so challenging,
one bite and you're hooked. From your fort, you fire three
! kinds of ammunition to moveltie bouncing SPUD, destroy your
competitor, intercept shots, gain bonus points, and more. Also
included is a bonus game MUG SHOT, in which 1 to 4 players test
their shooting skill&at one of eleven different playing speeds.
Get two exciting games in one. SPUD/MUG SHOT, No. 26162, $29.95
Buy SPUD/MUG SHOT today! Visit your local Sams
dealer or call OPERATOR 147 at 317-298-5566 or
800-428-SAMS.
Introducing Sams APE ESCAPE, the fast-action
game that will have you scaling tall buildings, riding
balloons, avoiding hazards and evading capture at
heights that would scare even King Kong.
The higher you climb, the faster the action. And with no
end to the buildings, there's no end to the fun! Play APE
ESCAPE alone or test your skill by trying to top someone else's
best score. Either way, it's sure to bring out the animal in you!
APE ESCAPE, for any Apple® ll-compatible system,
No. 26166, $29.95.
Don't monkey around, buy APE ESCAPE today! Visit
Howard W. Sams & Co., Inc.
4300 West 62nd Street, RO. Box 7092
Indianapolis, IN 46206
r Offer good in USA only Prices subject to change without notice In
Conaao, contact Lenbrook Electronics, Markham, Ontario L3R 1 H2-
Apple is a registered trademark of Apple Computer, Inc.
MAY 1984
sum
91
Unless otherwise noted, all products can be assumed to run on either Ap-
ple II, with 48K, ROM Applesoft, and one disk drive. The requirement
for ROM Applesoft can be met by RAM Applesoft in a language card.
Many Apple II programs will run on the Apple III in the emulator mode.
□ Apple Computer (20525 Mariani Avenue, Cupertino, CA 95014;
800-538-9696) has released a peripheral called AppleLine, which allows
Lisas, Macs, and Apple Ills to communicate with IBM mainframes as
terminals and workstations. The unit works with existing coaxial cables
and 3270 cluster controllers that may already be in place. $1,295.
□ Three new strategy games are available from Microcomputer
Games/Avalon Hill (4517 Harford Road, Baltimore, MD 21214;
301-254-5300). Dreadnoughts simulates action in the North Atlantic
during the years 1939-1941 . Virtually every warship in the Axis and Al-
lied navies is featured in this World War II battle re-creation. $30. Free
Trader takes you to a far galaxy where you take an option on a com-
modities deal, ensuring that your products achieve their market share-
all the while guarding your resources from the raiders of the Thoth Em-
pire. $30. Under Southern Skies pits H.M.S. Exeter, Ajax, and Achilles
against the K.M. Graf Spee once again in a tactical simulation of their
historic 1939 encounter. $25.
□ A database management system for home and business record-keep-
ing has been introduced by Softsmith (1431 Doolittle Drive, San Lean-
dro, CA 94577; 415-430-241 1). Four in One combines major data proc-
essing operations in a single program. It can perform calculations on a
defined field, for example, and then merge the field and calculation re-
sults into forms or letters with a word processor. Menu options,
prompts, and system messages are displayed on the screen while work-
ing. $129.95. LogoMotion is an educational tool that can be used to cre-
ate an interactive environment in which students can set their own pace,
problems, and goals. Drawing pictures, making music, and creating pro-
grams can be used to explore the potential of the turtle graphics lan-
guage. $149.95. Beginning with the "find a city" option, Supermap
guides learners aged ten to fifteen through a self-paced educational jour-
ney of more than three hundred cities. Testing is done using a "capital
quiz" option. $39.95. Couples can find out if they share similar opinions
on love, romance, values, sex, and spirituality when they play Friends or
Lovers, a set of "provocative and sometimes daring" questions written
by two psychologists. Compatibility ratings and answers can be printed.
$29.95.
□ A mail-order computer accessories firm, Gadgeteer (1524 Pine
Street, Philadelphia, PA 19102; 215-732-0965), is offering its LG20
Surge Supressor Multi-Outlet Strip for protecting small computers
against voltage surges. With four outlets and a six-foot cord, the unit will
absorb up to 6,000 volts or 6,500 amperes in less than ten nanoseconds,
limiting voltage to a safe 205 volts. $34.95.
□ The fundamentals of football can be taught using the first of a five-
part series of football learning software from Sterling Swift Publishing
(7901 South IH-35, Austin, TX 78744; 512-282-6840). Fifty Defense
Versus Run combines tutorials and testing of concepts and principles
with reinforcement feedback and graphics, including an automated
chalkboard. Includes coaches' manual. $99.95. Preview disk, $9.95.
□ The 1984 Intel Yellow Pages is a two-hundred-page directory of more
than two thousand CP/M software products. From Intel (3065 Bowers
Avenue, Santa Clara, CA 95051; 408-987-5320), the publication is mod-
eled after a telephone directory, with the first half listing suppliers and
the second half listing products and service details. Free.
□ Getex, a division of Lockheed-Georgia (1100 Circle 71 Parkway
N.W., Atlanta, GA 30339; 404-951-0878), has introduced the Data Sen-
try intelligent modem, which can prevent theft and other security
breaches without requiring encryption or changes in programming. The
modem uses a call-up, call-back, and password sequence to thwart data
thieves and, at the same time, offers all the standard features of conven-
tional modems. A lower security mode allows users to program the
modem to call back any number from which it gets a correct password.
$895. Remote-ON is a unit for turning a computer's power on or off
from long distance. $145.
□ A reformatted version of the U. S. Constitution Tutor from Micro
Lab (2699 Skokie Valley Road, Highland Park, IL 60035;
312-433-7550) features a tutorial mode with extra help screens and prac-
tice questions. In the test mode, any missed questions are given again in
the tutorial mode when the test is completed. $30.
□ Score your sexual IQ by answering more than two hundred multiple-
choice questions in Sexware. Designed to educate, provoke, and sur-
prise, the program is available from Challenge Software (134 West
Thirty-Second Street, Suite 602, New York, NY 10001). $29.95.
□ Two new games have been published by Howard W. Sams (4300
West Sixty-Second Street, Indianapolis, IN 46268; 317-298-5400). In
the arcade game Spud, two players try to penetrate each other's shields
with an exploding spud, eventually destroying the opposition's fort and
winning the game. Time clock and scoreboard provided. $29.95. In Mug
Shot, an arcade game for one to four players, each player has a fort and
a field of five mugs inside a trap. These mugs are released against the op-
position and must be destroyed to win. Eleven levels. $29.95.
□ Travel from the City of Darkness to Eco-Paradise without falling into
the toxic waste dump or going off on long detours; this educational quiz
game asks questions about air and water pollution, acid rain, and other
key environmental issues. The Road to Eco-Paradise, from Center for
Science in the Public Interest (1755 S Street N.W., Washington, D.C.
20009; 202-332-91 10), focuses on environmental issues and tests a play-
er's personal impact on the environment. Test disk and supplementary
educational material included. $39.95.
□ Designed by an ex-Apple engineer, the McMill 68000 coprocessor
card allows programs developed for the 68000 to run on the Apple II se-
ries, and vice versa, both in source and/or object code. From Stellation
Two (Box 2342, Santa Barbara, CA 93120; 805-966-1140), the com-
plete package includes hardware documentation, schemata, and Fig
Forth software. A 68000 cross assembler is also available. $299.
□ Fully supporting all the operating modes of the He, Print-It! Model 2
is a self-contained card that can handle both serial and parallel interface,
forty- or eighty-column text, standard or alternate font, hi- and lo-res
graphics, and more. Complete with handbook and cable (parallel or
serial). No software required. From Texprint (8 Blanchard Road, Burl-
ington, MA 01803; 617-273-3384). $149. Educational discounts
available.
□ The Apple User 's Encyclopedia covers all aspects of the Apple— ap-
plications, operation, Basic programming— as well as hundreds of soft-
ware packages and accessories. From The Book Company (11223
South Hindry Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90045; 213-410-9466), the
book also includes information on related books, magazines, and user
groups. Alphabetized and cross-referenced. $19.95.
□ Sequential Circuits (3051 North First Street, San Jose, CA 95134;
408-946-5240) has introduced a single-board polyphonic synthesizer, the
SCI Six Voice Board (6VB). The serial board drives the Six-Track syn-
thesizer, a unit designed to be integrated into systems containing a drum
box, sequencers, and a computer. The board allows individual program-
ming for each voice and has computer-corrected analog electronics.
Each voice can represent a different timbre, with independent control
over the tone, loudness, and character of the sound. Mixing inputs can be
used to create whole bands, synthesizing instruments such as the trom-
bone, organ, banjo, drum, bass, and so on. $1,095.
□ Datasoft (9421 Winnetka Avenue, Chatsworth, CA 91311;
92
S OF TALK
MAY 1984
818-701-5161) has released an arcade game called O 'Riley's Mine,
wherein a dynamite-toting Irishman seeks mineral wealth while battling
underground river monsters on the rickety levels of his claim. $29.95.
□ Speech Systems for Your Microcomputer, by Gary A. Shade, dis-
cusses applications of voice input and output for home, industry, school,
and the handicapped. The book also examines existing systems ranging
in price from twelve dollars to thousands of dollars. One hundred pages
of reprints from manufacturer's data sheets and a buyer's guide are in-
cluded. Published by WGBooks (Elm Street and Route 101, Peterbor-
ough, NH 03458; 603-924-9471). Spiral-bound. $14.95.
□ MAP is a database management system that searches free-text and
structured data files, eliminates manual coding or indexing, and auto-
matically indexes every item in a file. From Softshell (Box 18522, Balti-
more, MD 21237; 301-686-1213), the program allows the formation of
free-text databases for schedules, journal abstracts, and catalogs as well
as references, research notes, and credit reports. Requires Z-80 card.
$145.
□ A set of four Basic programs that make scientific graphs on any 80-
or 132-column printer is contained in PlotPro Version 2.0, from BV En-
gineering (Box 3351, Riverside, CA 92519; 714-781-0252). Linear,
semilogarithmic, and full-logarithmic plots with one or two Y axes and
multiple functions on the same graph can be printed. Templates are pro-
duced and information is filled in for each graph type. Menu-driven.
$49.95. SPP is a general-purpose signal -processing program containing
an integrated set of routines that analyze linear and nonlinear systems
and circuits, as well as their effects on user-specified time domain wave-
forms. Results may be plotted with PlotPro. $59.95. ACNAP Version
1.34 is a general-purpose electronic circuit analysis program that
analyzes passive and active circuits consisting of resistors, capacitors,
inductors, controlled current sources, operational amplifiers, transistors,
and so on. Works with PlotPro to plot gain/phase information. $49.95.
□ TimberTech Computer Camp has found a new home at the University
of California at Santa Cruz. For boys and girls ages ten to seventeen, the
computer education specialty camp emphasizes computer skills develop-
ment in combination with traditional camp activities. Contact Scott
Walker at TimberTech (Box 546, Larkspur, CA 94939; 415^61-3787)
for information on camp sessions this summer.
□ Designed for high-tech bargain hunters, Computer Shopper (407
South Washington, Box F, Titusville, FL 32781; 305-269-321 1) is a new
monthly tabloid aimed at the professional computer user. The publica-
tion features articles, hardware and software reviews, industry news,
and a preponderance of classified ads with "flea market-like bargains"
on a wide range of computer- related items. Robotics, data communica-
tions, and modem reviews are samples of recent feature material. One
year (12 issues), $15.
□ Samson and Delilah is an arcade game from Davka (845 North Mich-
igan Avenue, Chicago, IL 6061 1 ; 312-944-4070). Race through the tem-
ple of the Philistines, jump over guards, mind the lion, and shake those
pillars. Watch out for Delilah's fiery scissors. $24.95. A personalized
study course on preparing for a bar or bat mitzvah, the Bar Mitzvah
Compu-Tutor plays the haphtarah melodies. A bouncing ball helps stu-
dents follow every syllable— using either the Hebrew text, with vowels
and trope, or the English translation. Customized with the name of each
student. Designed for Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, and Recon-
structionist Jews. $49.95.
□ Who's Who is now on-line. Derived from seventy-five thousand bio-
graphical profiles in Who's Who in America, published since 1899, the
Who's Who database profiles family background, education, career his-
tory, creative works, and so on. Demographic inquiries, socioeconomic
questions, and other inquiries can be made. Created by Marquis Who's
Who (200 East Ohio Street, Chicago, IL 60611; 312-787-2008).
Available for searching on Dialog as file 234.
□ Artsci (5547 Satsuma Avenue, North Hollywood, CA 91601;
818-985-2922) has released an integrated software package called the
Magic Office System. Magic Window II for word processing, Magicalc
for spreadsheets, and Magic Words for checking spelling are integrated
through a file folder and file cabinet display. Documents or parts of
documents can be cut and pasted into other documents. Requires eighty
columns and two disk drives. $295.
□ Attorneys, medical specialists, general practitioners, dentists, and
pharmacists can learn how to improve their microcomputer business
skills with Data Management for Professionals, by Bryan Lewis. The
book, published by Ashton-Tate Publications Group (10150 West Jef-
ferson Boulevard, Culver City, CA 90230; 213-204-5570), contains in-
formation on client list management, accounting functions, cash flow,
record-keeping security, client contact, and what to look for in hardware
and software. $15.95.
□ Two new arcade-style entertainments have been released by Adven-
ture International (Box 3435, Longwood, FL 32750; 305-862-6917).
In C'est La Vie, the streets are lined with money for players to pick up
while evading thieves and the dutiful IRS. A loan from a neighboring
loan shark may help, but players must be sure to pay it off in time.
$34.95. Gnome Valley has players racing through a mysterious cave try-
ing to defuse a hydrogen bomb. Alas, the resident gnomes are pronuke.
$34.95.
□ Interpret accumulated data and forecast the outcome of similar or
modified undertakings with Monte Carlo Simulations, from Actuarial
Micro Software (3915-A Valley Court, Winston-Salem, NC 27106;
919-765-5588). The statistical analysis part of the program employs the
chi-square goodness-of-fit test to match a set of raw data to a standard
probability distribution. The simulation process generates random num-
bers based on an assumed probability distribution using the Monte Carlo
method. Menu-driven and nontechnical to use. Includes hi-res graphics,
sound, and color. $60. With source code, $90.
□ The Basics of Basic is a four-disk tutorial for the beginning program-
mer from Focus Media (839 Stewart Avenue, Garden City, NY 11530;
5 16-794-8900). An introduction to the keyboard and the fundamentals of
the language are presented in twelve lessons. Documentation included.
$99.
□ Three educational games, two help programs, and two explorations
of the mathematical questions that arise in the games are contained in
Arith-Magic II Area Games, from Quality Educational Designs (Box
12486, Portland, OR 97212; 503-287-8137). Designed for children in
grades four and up, the games develop and use concepts of area and pa-
rameter, with explorations leading to the graph of the hyperbola and the
parabola, provoking questions about measurement. $35.
□ A twelve-page catalog of health-related software is available from
CTRL Health Software (18653 Ventura Boulevard, Suite 348, Encino,
CA 91356; 818-788-0888). Categories of software that can be ordered
by mail include diet and exercise, smoking and alcohol, sex and
reproduction, psychology, stress and memory, and more. Catalog is up-
dated regularly and includes many hard-to-find programs. Free.
□ The Early Childhood Readiness Skills Series is a series of multidisk
packages covering the areas of classification, ordering/sequence, spatial
relations, counting skills, and language arts. From Aquarius (Box 128,
Indian Rocks Beach, FL 33535; 813-595-7890), the series is recom-
mended for use with early childhood and remediation programs, and for
use by learning-disabled, hearing-impaired, and physically disabled chil-
dren. $29.95 per disk. Series price: $102. Catalog is free.
□ Spell-It! is a spelling instruction and testing system from MultiMedia
Software (Box 5909, Bethesda, MD 20814; 301-951-3646). Equipped
with a cassette interface for hearing the correct pronunciation of a word,
the program allows teachers to create their own spelling lessons with ac-
companying tapes. Tests can also be created with the package and, after
administrating the tests, results can be summarized using the report pro-
gram. Package comes complete with microphone and earphones, sample
lesson cassette, and audio enhancer unit. $179. Storyboard II is a course-
ware design package that applies pad and pencil storyboarding tech-
niques to the planning, testing, and authoring of interactive instruction
for education and training. All elements can be controlled simultaneous-
ly, from text and branching to videodisc/tape frame numbers. $185. Ver-
sions that support popular videotape and videodisk systems: $325.
□ New from Dynacomp (1427 Monroe Avenue, Rochester, NY 14618;
716-442-8960): Genesis, The Adventure Creator, an authoring tool for
the creation of your own text adventures without learning to program. A
moderate game of about thirty-five locations can be created in a few
hours. Originally published by Hexcraft. $39.95. Talking Typewriter
combines graphics and sound to teach the alphabet, numbers, and the
keyboard to young children ages three to eight. Players must press the
correct key to launch a missile toward a moving target. No hardware
needed. $19.95. With graphics that simulate a playing table, Domino is a
computer version of the ancient game, pitting you against the computer
on three levels of play, from novice to expert. Twenty-eight-page man-
ual describing the game and strategies is included. $29.95. Operations
Amazing SuperSprite now has software galore!
Eight exciting new software programs for
SuperSprite! Colorful and animated graphics.
Dramatic sound effects. Actual speech. The
peripheral card that revolutionized Apple9graphics
now has software for learning, for playing, for
fun with programming.
"One of this year's most impor-
tant products for the Apple"
Creative Computing
February, 1984
"This peripheral has completely
changed the Apple ... to an in-
credible machine with unlimited
graphics (and sound) potential!'
In Cider
September, 1983
LOGOSprite. Sprites and sound
join Terrapin LOGO for more learning
fun.
NumberSprites. Colorful
sprites and speech teach
numbers and quantities.
AlphaSprites. Children learn the
alphabet with the aid of sprite ani-
mation and speech.
KOBOR. A fast-action maze game
against deadly androids with
dramatic sound effects and speech
Assembly Line Madness. A race
against a fast moving car assembly
line to get the proper parts in place
Synetix Inc.
10635 N.E. 38th Place
Kirkland, WA 98033
SpriteArt. Paintbrushes and a
palette of colors to create sprites and
scenery and animate the whole
picture!
MusicSprites. Lively sprites add to
the fun for visually creating colorful
music.
BaseballSprites. Hear the roar of
the crowd. The call of the umpire.
Play baseball inside famous stadiums
for real life thrills.
800-426-7412
In Canada: Exclusively by Chevco
Computing, Mississauga. Ontario
(416)821-7600
Each program S39 95. Software requires 48k Apple II series and SuperSprite
NumberSprites, AlphaSprites and Assembly Line Madness are registered trademarks of Avante-Garde Creations, Inc. SuperSprite, LOGOSprite, KOBOR,
SpriteArt, MusicSprites, BaseballSprites are registered trademarks of Synetix. Inc Apple is a registered trademark of Apple Computers, Inc.
94 ifSOPTALK maT7984
Research Tutorial is a collection of seventeen menu-driven programs that
provide data file creation, manipulation, and calculation capabilities in
support of the analysis of payoff tables, simplex linear programming,
distribution/transportation methods, and CPM/PERT analysis. Includes
practice examples, making it useful for beginners as well as profession-
als. $99.95. Designed for scientists, engineers, students, and
photographers, Digital Imaging Processing allows a user to digitally ma-
nipulate images to remove interference, noise, improve contrast,
sharpen, and generally filter images. Fifteen samples included. $59.95.
□ The Computer Supermarket is a two-day personal computer show to
be held at the San Mateo County Fairgrounds June 9 and 10, sponsored
by Microshows (Box 4323, Foster City, CA 94404; 415-571-8041). A
variety of hardware and software for business, educational, entertain-
ment, and home use will be available for purchase on the spot. Hours are
10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. $6.
□ A complete hardware and software package for generating interactive
graphics, The Graphics Tool Kit, from Demco Electronics (10516 Gre-
villea Avenue, Inglewood, CA 90304; 213-677-0801), has a viewing
window resolution of 640 dots by 384 lines. The main menu-driven pro-
gram manipulates vector shapes, displays fonts, draws lines, and plots
points. Other segments include a vector shape table maker and a font
maker. Charts, sheet music, floor plans, circuit diagrams— anything that
will fit on an 8 1/2-by-l 1 piece of paper— can be generated. Utility pro-
grams included. $495.
□ Hartley Courseware (Box 431, Dimondale, MI 48821;
517-646-6458) has announced the Medalists series of programs to aid
elementary and secondary social studies teachers. The six titles are Con-
tinents, States, Black Americans, Women in History, Presidents, and
Create (for the creation of custom lessons). Clues or facts at varying
levels of difficulty are included for each famous person, state, or conti-
nent. Students buy clues— those who discover the answers by using only
the most difficult clues are the winners, or medalists. Records are stored
for the instructor, and students may compete against themselves or
against the top three students. $39.95 each.
□ Beginning a software search? A software locator service survey
available from Associated Technology (Route 2, Box 448, Estill
Springs, TN 37330; 615-967-9159) identifies more than fifty major lo-
cating services, citing more than three hundred thousand software pack-
ages representing more than eight thousand software companies. $8.50.
□ An electronic weighing platform with an RS-232 output has been
marketed by International Computing Scale (2301 1 Moulton Parkway,
Laguna Hills, CA 92653; 714-951-9658). The SM232 scale will give an
accurate digital output for weight applied anywhere on the surface of the
platform and exceeds all National Handbook 44 weighing requirements.
Comes in standard weighing capacities of 20, 50, 100, and 200 pounds
or their metric equivalents. Other capacities up to 2,000 pounds avail-
able. In quantity: $495 each.
□ Microcom (1400- A Providence Highway, Norwood, PA 02062;
617-762-9310) has announced a 1200-baud error-correcting modem.
The SX/1200 modem, part of the Era 2 family of communications sys-
tems, offers communication between dissimilar terminals, minis, main-
frames, and micros. Will communicate with any product or service sup-
porting MNP. Features auto dial/auto answer and user-selectable speeds.
$599. Eight-slot card chassis (for large users): $699.
□ More than thirty new products, ranging from portable workstations to
disk storage cabinets, are featured in the new Altech computer furniture
catalog from Luxor (2245 Delany Road, Box 830, Waukegan, IL 60085;
312-244-1800). Free.
□ Glossary Disk for Apple Writer contains separate glossary files of
print commands for six popular brands of dot-matrix printers. Print code
can be accessed with a single keystroke. From MinuteWare (Box 2392,
Columbia, MD 21045; 301-995-1166). Also contains information on
how to use your printer's foreign characters. $14.95. Minute Manual for
PFS:File/Report/Graph/Write, by Jeffery Lesho and Jim Pirisino, is a
book explaining the integrated software system. A quick guide section
contains more than fifty step-by-step procedures, many not found in the
PFS manuals. Two business and education tutorials are included.
$12.95.
□ Connections, by Kathleen Martin and Donna Bearden, is a Logo-
based series of booklets designed for use by individuals, small groups, or
entire classes. Published by Martin-Bearden (1908 Sandy Lane, Irving,
TX 75060; 214-253-6579), the three booklets— The Rule of 360, Polyspi
Inspi, and The Turtle Goes to Kindergarten — contain a variety of ac-
tivities to explore mathematical concepts. Students are challenged to use
these concepts abstractly as they solve puzzles and problems on the com-
puter. $7.95 each. Logo-specific disks (please specify version): $4.95.
□ A dot-matrix printer with a print speed of one hundred characters per
second across 136 columns (at ten CPI) has been introduced by Epson
America (3415 Kashiwa Street, Torrance, CA 90505; 213-539-9140).
Called the RX-100, the printer is designed for spreadsheets, ledgers, and
other wide documents. The printer also offers a choice of 128 user-se-
lectable type styles, as well as a choice of international character sets.
$699.
□ @*&!!%# Computers is a "newsletter of what's wrong— and goes
wrong— with computers," published by Expletive Computers (Box
553, Mount Freedom, NJ 07970; 201-895-7292). Send them your tale of
woe, complete with all the anxiety-producing details, and the newsletter
will pay you $25 upon publication, if they find your story interesting,
heart-rending, or amusing. One-year subscription (ten issues): $6.
□ A series of utility routines for beginning or intermediate Applesoft
programmers is available on Disk O' Utilities, from Broadway Soft-
ware (642 Amsterdam Avenue, Suite 136, New York, NY 10025;
212-580-7508). Thirteen programs are contained on the disk, including a
file deleter routine and an automatic line numbering routine. Not copy-
protected. $12.95. The Diskinvoice System is a software package for
small businesses that features invoicing and accounts receivable. $55.
□ Four programmed software modules for the RB5X Intelligent Robot
have been released by RB Robot (18301 West Tenth Avenue, Suite 310,
Golden, CO 80401; 303-279-5525). The modules, which allow the robot
to do specific tasks as soon as the user switches it on, are 2K or 4K
EPROMS that plug directly into the RB5X. Tides are Pattern Program-
mer, for creating movement routines; Bumper Music, allowing simple
tunes to be played; Spin-the-Robot, a game routine; and Intruder Alarm
and "Daisy, Daisy", for sensing movement. $14.95 to $24.95.
□ The third edition of the 5. Klein Directory of Computer Graphics
Suppliers: Hardware, Software, Systems, and Services is available from
Technology and Business Communications (730 Boston Post Road,
Box 89, Sudbury, MA 01776; 617-443-4671). This latest edition con-
tains 224 pages and identifies more than five hundred supply sources
"essential to the entire computer graphics industry." Basic product in-
formation and business background on each company are featured and
cross-indexed. $60.
□ The home version of Perplexity contains many of the same puzzles
that earned the school version, Comp-U-Solve , a Learning Periodicals
award. From Daybreak Software (1951 Grand Avenue, Baldwin, NY
1 1510; 516-223-4666), Perplexity encourages players to develop and use
their logic and problem-solving skills, which are considered critical for
success in math and science. The three puzzles are presented in two
modes of play, regular and contest. $29.95.
□ Educational software from Oakleaf Systems (Box 472, Decorah, IA
52101): Evolution is a simulation that lets students see the effects of mu-
tation, gene flow, natural selection, and genetic drift. Factors can be
studied separately or in combination. $29.95. Algal Growth is a simula-
tion that presents the effects of nitrate-nitrogen, phosphate, turbidity,
alkalinity, pH, temperature, ammonia, and light on the growth of
algae-simulated experiments. $29.95. Ecological Analysis Programs
enables students to do life table analyses, community similarity, diver-
sity indexes, capture-recapture population estimation, and more. Equa-
tions and symbols follow college ecology text models. $29.95. Aquatic
Ecology Programs assist students with the Hynes/Hamilton estimates of
secondary production, calculation of stream flow and hydraulic radius,
lake morphometry, and more. $29.95.
□ A new version of DMP Utilities is available from Vilberg Brothers
Computing (Box 72, Mount Horeb, WI 53572; 608-274-6433). Version
4.3 extends support to the Apple Super Serial Interface, the Imagewriter
printer, and the Microtek 611 parallel interface. In addition, the program
now remembers fonts in setup and downloads a font without printing the
setup message. Update free with returned disk. Without: $4.
□ The legal questions software publishers face when buying, develop-
ing, or selling software are addressed in Legal Care for Your Software, by
attorney Daniel Remer, published by Nolo Press (950 Parker Street,
Berkeley, CA 94710; 415-549-1976). Issues dealt with include con-
tracts, ROM copyrights, lawsuits, copywriting manuals, and protecting
trade secrets. $24.95.
The High Gods are searching for a replace-
ment for Randamn, the powerful Demi-god of
random events.
Accept the challenge and you enter a uni-
verse of randomness. There are 7 totally differ-
ent worlds in Hi-res Graphictron animation,
including the eerie Graveyard, ancient Stone-
henge, and the piratical Undersea land. In each,
it will take all your wits and skill to fight and
think your way through 7 stages of ever-
increasing difficulty. In each, 7 different kinds
of opponents stand guard. But which ones
you face depends on ....
the spin of the
Mystic
Sot Machine!
At all first-stages
you fight a single
randomly chosen
enemy. Survive, and the Mystic Slot Machine
spins again, to turn up other randomly selected
opponents .. until at each world's 7th stage you
meet 7 at once. Which ones? The ghost? The
cobra? The death birds? The devil's lightning?
Ahhhh, since they carry the curse of Random-
ness they may all be different— all the same—
or a terrifying mixture.
A
But win through, and
your reward is great. You
become a new Demi-god
of the universe. Dare you chance it? Can
you stand the agonizing suspense of the
Mystic Slot Machine? Then welcome to
Randamn .... where only you stay the same-
all else is random!
$34.95
Apple ll/II+/lle*
Joystick**/Paddles/Keyboard.
"recommended
Order from your dealer or:
211 15 Devonshire St, Suite 337,
Chatsworth, Ca 91311.
(213) 700-0510
(VISA/MASTERCARD/CHECK Ok. Add $1.00 shipping/handling.)
'Apple ll/ll+/lle are trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc.
96
mmr
MAY 1984
YOUR
for //c
' : III,'"/'''''/
i ui m -
POWER
Word processing at
its finest. PoWerful and ver
satile. yet easy to use and
natural Designed for the
business and professional
environment (or for anyone who wants the best)
Simple control commands Typewriter-style shift
and lock Glossary Form letters and mailing lists
Menus for disk access and printing DOS 3.3 com
patible text files 40 or 80 column display
Modifiable drivers for most interface cards and
printers $210.
Communications
add-on for ZARDAX
Turns ZARDAX into a
communicating word pro-
cessor, to send and
receive text files. Talk to other Apples, mainframes,
information services, typesetters. Includes termina1
mode. 300 or 1,200 baud. Works with serial,
modem, and popular 80 column cards used by
ZARDAX. Log-on files and X-on X-off supported
"Apple Interactive Data
Analysis." Statistical
analysis package for
production research work
with large survey data
files. Full range of analysis — from descriptive
statistics to multiple regression. Complete data
manipulation, transformation and case selection.
Fast and accurate calculations. Up to 4,000 cases
and 255 variables per file. $235.
Just push our button . . .
Action- Research Northwest
1 1442 Marine View Drive, SW.
Seattle, WA 98146
(206) 241- 1645 Source: CL2542
Apple ][ is a trademark of Apple Computer. Inc
ZARDAX is a trademark of Computer Solutions. Pty Australia
Dealer inquiries invited.
□ A job-cost accounting system for manufacturers that includes general
ledger, job cost subsidiaries, payables journal, and payroll has been re-
leased by CMA Micro Computer (55722 Santa Fe Trail, Yucca Valley,
CA 92284; 619-365-9718). The Ledger includes five hundred accounts,
and the system prepares a posting journal of all detail, a trial balance, an
income statement, a balance sheet, and more. Payroll includes tables for
federal, state, and local taxes. Requires two disk drives and 130-column
printer. $459.95.
□ Three "no-frills" carrying cases for shipping and carrying software
are available from PRC of America (475 Boulevard, Elmwood Park, NJ
07407; 201-796-6600). The Data Vault series of cases are constructed
from thick- walled polyethylene foam with a rugged, luggage-type handle
and industrial-style hardware. Each case comes with a hinged lock that
accommodates a standard padlock. Three sizes. $62 each.
□ A thirty-two-page catalog of computer science books and software is
available from Little, Brown and Company's College Division (34
Beacon Street, Boston, MA 02106; 617-227-0730). More than fifty
books are featured, with titles ranging from handbooks on system analy-
sis to language-specific programming references. Several selections are
designed for those with little or no technical expertise. Free.
□ For psychologists, counselors, and others who are familiar with the
Weschler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised, Bertamax (3647
Stoneway North, Seattle, WA 98103; 206-547-4056) has introduced
WISC-R Report Writer, developed to help diagnose strengths and weak-
nesses related to academic subjects and to prepare reports of the results
for clients. The program includes a test profile to illustrate the subtest
scaled scores to help in the selection of appropriate recommendations. A
listing of fifty recommendations in five general areas is available. $125.
□ GoGames is an electronic go board and game-filing program for the
Japanese game of go. From Go Software (Box 2693, Chicago, IL
60690), the program displays games at chosen speeds, using commen-
tary and other features to enhance the assimilation of information.
Graphics simulate the simplicity of placing black-and-white stones on a
board. Tournament games can be saved. $39.95.
□ A handicapped-operable replacement keyboard for the Apple II has
been created by Key Tronic (Box 14687, Spokane, WA 99214;
509-928-8000). Individuals not having the use of both hands can now op-
erate the Apple keyboard by the use of alternate-action keys that over-
come the obstacle of having to depress several keys at once, as required
in most applications. Plug-compatible, with a low-profile design. $298.
□ Psychological Psoftware (4757 Sun Valley Road, Del Mar, CA
92014; 619-481-4182) has announced Ne ver Fat Again, a behavior modi-
fication program for weight loss. The program teaches a user to change
eating habits for safe weight loss, with emphasis on how food is eaten,
not what kind of food. $49.95.
□ Write dBase II code with a new utility program from Gryphon Mi-
croproducts (Box 6543, Silver Spring, MD 20906; 301-946-2585).
dHelper Part I gives a formatted output listing of a system of dBase II
programs and data files. The software allows a user to set listing
parameters and do macro substitution, as well as check syntax. $150.
□ The Uniprint printer card provides transfers of hi-res graphics pages
one and two, expands and shrinks the images, or rotates the images in
any direction by ninety degrees. From Videx (1105 Northeast Circle
Boulevard, Corvallis, OR 97330; 503-758-0521), the board also makes
color transfers on the Dataproducts IDS Prism printer. Installation man-
ual included with details on more than twenty-five printers. With cable:
$89.
□ Monkeynews is the second program, following Monkeymath, in the
Monkey Series of educational software from Artwork Software (150
North Main Street, Fairport, NY 14450; 800-828-6573). The program is
designed to help increase reading and comprehension skills, using a par-
ticipation format that allows students control of story direction and
speed, as well as the action of the main character, Marc the Monkey. A
branching program allows the creation of more than two dozen varia-
tions on the original story. For grades one through six. $29.95.
Monkeybuilder is the third package in the series. This time Marc the
Monkey is out to net pieces of words that, when correctly combined,
form the building blocks for his home in the high trees. Each level incor-
porates dozens of different vocabulary, word structure, and spelling
devices that increase in difficulty. Also for grades one through six.
$29.95. " Hi
Create Print Masterpieces
with Text and Graphics.
Upgrade the Apple II, 11+ , He or
III computer and any parallel printer
to a complete text and graphics output
system with the newest and most versa-
tile interface, PKASO/U. (Pronounced
"Picasso," the "U" is for Universal).
And make use of every capability
available from the printer. And gain
additional text and graphics features to
turn every printout into a masterpiece.
Get Greater Visual Range
and Instant Screen Printouts.
Gain every state-of-the-art printing
capability, including exclusive features
not offered by any other interface:
• Magic Screen Dumps — instant,
single-command snapshots of any
image on the Apple screen, graphics
or text. What you see is what you get!
• Print the graphics screen any size —
from inches to feet — another
PKASO/U exclusive.
• Instantaneous, single-command Lo
Resolution Screen Snapshots, only
from PKASO/U.
• Super Resolution — higher resolu-
tion graphics from your dot matrix
printer than possible on the screen,
only from PKASO/U.
• 4-way Rotation of image — 90°,
180°, 270°, 360° — positioned
anywhere on the page.
• Direct or Reverse Printing — black
on white or white on black.
• Full color for printers with color
capability.
• 16-level gray scale for black and
white photographic images, only
from PKASO/U.
• Aspecting, with separate width and
height adjustments for any size and
aspect ratio.
• Windowing, the printout of any
selected portion of a graphics image
in any size — equal, enlarged or re-
duced, another PKASO/U exclusive.
• Low-cost clock/calendar option for
time/date stamping, available soon.
Get Universal Compatibility
with Current/Future Technology.
Link the Apple computer with any
and all major parallel printers of today
or tomorrow. Unlike other printing in-
terfaces which are limited by ROMs or
DIP switches with pre-set configura-
tions, PKASO/U is completely config-
urable for either present or yet-to-come
Centronics parallel-interfaced printers.
Another only-from-PKASO/U feature.
Add ShuffleBuffer
for a Complete Upgrade.
The new Buffer with a Brain,
ShuffleBuffer, does the printer-feeding
work of the Apple so the computer is
free to perform other tasks. It's the only
buffer that can rearrange stored data,
mix and merge, repeat and reprint. Ask
your dealer for a demonstration.
Pays for Itself
with Color Ribbon Savings.
Exclusive Mosaic Mode suspends
color dot overprinting operation, uses
color dots printed next to each other
(not on top of each other) to achieve
the desired shade. And since fewer dots
are printed, less ink is used, ribbon life
is doubled and the PKASO/U pays for
itself in ribbons saved.
Do it with PKASO/U.
A fully-documented Demonstration
Diskette and detailed User Manual
make it easy; just plug in the cables (in-
cluded) and start producing master-
pieces. Explore the amazing capabil-
ities of PKASO/U by visiting a nearby
computer peripherals dealer. Or call us
directly at (215) 667-1713 and we'll
send you the details. Unframed.
PKASO/U DID IT.
Interactive Structures, Inc.
146 Montgomery Avenue
Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004
(215) 667-1713
Era one.
Era two
le personal com-
uter increase the
roductivity of the
usiness executive
ramatically. Yet for all their
Dwer, personal computers
ave not fulfilled their poten
il. Because the different
akes have been unable to
)mmunicate reliably with one
lother and with the various public
ita networks.
But now, Microcom moves the
srsonal computer into a new era of communi-
itions compatibility with Era 2-the first Personal
omputer Communications System with the
dustry-standard communications protocol
INP. Era 2 finally enables dissimilar personal
)mputers to communicate with one another
liably and cost effectively. It also allows the
Brsonal computer to access public data
itworks easily and error-free,
closer look at Era 2.
Era 2 with MNP is a 1200 baud Communi-
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100
WHTAI I
MAY 1984
Apples Al
^ TODD ZILBE&T
It is hot in Tunis, on the Mediterranean coast of Africa. One
of the oldest civilized regions in the world, Tunis is just a stone's
throw from the ancient city of Carthage. The Phoenicians settled
in Tunis. Carthaginian war fleets sailed from there. The alphabet
originated there.
Tunis is the capital of the Republic of Tunisia. The republic, a
nation of seven million people, was born in 1957 after centuries
of French and Turkish rule— a young nation in the cradle of civili-
zation. The climate of Tunisia nourishes olives, dates, lemons
and limes, and all-important wheat; it is too hot for apples. But,
six thousand miles from Cupertino, California, Apples are grow-
ing in Tunisia.
And Apples are proliferating all over the world. This month,
Softalk visits some countries with many Apples and some with
only a few— but each has a fresh, new flavor. Together they form
a collage of Apples and Apple users.
In developing nations, where having enough to eat is a strug-
gle, Apples are helping governments organize their resources and
plan for the future. Special assignments editor Andrew Christie
reports on how Apples are helping Tunisia manage the production
and distribution of cereal grains. Also, this month's Newspeak
column describes how a French organization is working in the
heart of Africa, helping Chad— a poor, war-torn nation five hun-
dred miles south of Tunisia — use computer technology.
Europe lies just north of Tunisia, across the Mediterranean
Sea. Apples are almost as familiar there as they are in the United
States. Apple has a plant in Cork, Ireland, to supply the European
market, and there are sixty thousand Apples in Germany alone,
where the little beige machine is known as the Mercedes of per-
sonal computers. German businesspeople have received them en-
thusiastically, while the German home market remains less than
ideal. Apple sales representative Terry Adams reports that less
than 5 percent of the Apples in Europe are in the homes.
Correspondent Eden Recor writes from Germany,
"Americans can be characterized as people who will first buy a
computer, then ask, 'Okay, what can it do for me?' and go on to
find all sorts of uses for it. That attitude doesn't exist in Ger-
many." Higher computer prices coupled with less disposable in-
come make impulsive buying of computers rare. And perhaps
there is a national temperament that explains the different con-
sumer patterns, including an opinion that computer games should
be free!
In his Exec on Paris-based Apple Computer International,
senior editor David Hunter looks at Apple's overall strategy for
marketing machines in the twenty-three countries that Apple con-
siders its European market. The He, HI, and Lisa have been well
received, and the Macintosh is on the launching pad. Also, in
"Personal Computing in the Old World," Hunter addresses the
attitudes and reactions of Europeans to the personal computing
phenomenon. There may be fewer users in Europe than in the
States, but the excitement is strong and getting stronger.
MAY 1984
sunn
101
Over the World
The worldwide spread of computers shouldn't be thought of
as merely the exportation of American goods to foreign markets.
Software development is an international concern. For example,
the word processor Zardax is an import from Australia. German
bakers use specially designed German bakery software, and
French developers are working on hardware and software that
may, in some cases, be superior to what is available in the United
States. From Canada, correspondent Don Officer reports that
three Canadians and American Seymour Papert developed such
an impressive version of Logo that it earned the Apple brand.
Other Canadians are using Apples to manage farm produc-
tion, from hogs to wheat. Apples have "pioneered dozens of ap-
plications" on farms, according to Ontario cattle rancher Betty
Vandenbosch. "The Apple is a thousand dollars cheaper than any
other system with suitable software. ' ' Sheep and dairy farmers an
ocean away in New Zealand are also using Apples, according to
correspondent John MacGibbon. Shrinking markets and prices
there have forced New Zealand farmers, "already reckoned
among the world's most efficient," to turn to computers for ways
to improve efficiency.
Meanwhile, kids and computers around the world are becom-
ing inseparable. Summer computer camps are available to Aus-
tralian children, who also receive computer instruction at school.
And MacGibbon reports that an amazing 95 percent of the high
schools in New Zealand have at least one Apple. Canada and Ger-
many are also committed to bringing computers to their children.
In Germany, some knowledge of Pascal is already required of
high school students. German computer dealer Andreas Stoerzer
says that a desire for greater programming capability has led Ger-
man educational advisers to recommend that schools invest in
Apples over Commodores, which previously had the nod.
Computer users in other countries face problems unknown to
American users. For instance, in New Zealand the per capita in-
come is twenty-five hundred dollars a year less than in America.
On top of this, hardware and software can cost as much as three
times more. Simple economics makes it harder for even seriously
interested consumers to investigate computers down under.
Language differences are an obvious but sometimes over-
looked impediment to computers in other countries. In Canada,
two languages are spoken; programs must accommodate both
English and French. Different languages require different charac-
ter sets. Non-English-speaking users require software written or
revised in their native tongue, and hardware must be made to con-
form to language variations as well.
Maybe in the future an icon-based interface like Apple has in-
troduced worldwide on the Macintosh will facilitate intercultural
computer development, much like international road signs help
world travelers now.
It may be idealistic to think that the spread of computers will
engender a greater unity among nations. But New Zealand isn't
so far from Canada— and the distance from Cupertino to Tunis is
getting shorter all the time. Hi
Do Disks Spin
Backward in the
Southern Hemisphere?
er loun haccibboh
"The whole world's going to be taken over by computers and
all that sort of thing," the eager youngster insists. Ten-year-old
Nina Siers quits steering her turtle and leaves the Logo screen
long enough to explain her presence at summer computer camp.
"No one in our family knows anything about computers. I'm
here to check them out and report back."
Further, young Nina insists that when computers take over the
world, everything will become dark — "just like in Blade Run-
ner." But that pessimistic vision is complicated by the fact that
here she is, having fun.
Barely pausing for breath, Nina pours out her enthusiasm
about programming with Logo, playing Animals, Rats, Apple
Check, Insulter, Pac-Man, and Lemonade, as well as tennis, hik-
ing, swimming, doing gymnastics, eating. . . .
None of it is dark, and everything is "just great."
Downloading with the Joneses. Yes, computers are alive,
well, and bursting into everyone's consciousness down under in
Australasia. Though both countries covered by that term have
small populations (Australia fifteen million, New Zealand three
million), the locals are well educated, relatively affluent, and
have a long-time passion for keeping up with the Northern
Hemisphere.
Especially in computers. Both countries see silicon
technology as a great chance to break the tyranny of distance
separating them from the rest of the world. It's a chance to
become full-fledged residents of the new global village, and
they're grabbing it.
Just as it brings Australians and New Zealanders closer to the
world in terms of communications, so the micro revolution offers
possibilities for new exports that will be less affected by heavy
freight costs than traditional minerals and farm products are.
Higher Tech. Kiwis and Aussies are probably as interested
and involved with computers as Americans, but there are dif-
ferences, partly resulting from the extra cost of computer
equipment.
An Apple He starter package including a 64K basic unit, Ap-
ple drive/controller, and Apple monitor that costs about $1 ,650 in
the U.S. retails (in local currency) for $2,695 in Australia and a
whopping $3,995 in New Zealand. Blame those figures on ex-
change rates, limited competition, and extortionate government
rake-offs. New Zealand, which fares the worst, gets only sixty-
five U.S. cents for one of its dollars and suffers a 40 percent com-
puter sales tax as well.
These costs, in combination with lower average wages, make
owning a microcomputer an expensive business. Whereas an
American citizen works five weeks, on the average, to buy an
Apple starter package, an Australian must work nine. New
Zealanders must labor nearly fifteen weeks to join the Apple clan.
Yet people still buy. New Zealanders in particular are less
concerned with trappings of affluence than Americans are and
have different priorities for their incomes. They'll happily do
without glittering office suites, en suite bathrooms, big cars, and
designer wardrobes if doing so means they can buy some shiny
new high-tech gear.
These are boom times for micros. Nineteen eighty-three was a
very good year in Australia, though more for IBM than for Ap-
ple. In the second half of the year, Apple's share of new micro
sales slumped from 27 percent to 12 percent; the IBM PC, in-
troduced in February, was chiefly responsible. According to
dealers, Apples were perceived as too expensive for the features
they offered in comparison with the Commodore 64 and cheap
Apple compatibles in the high-end home market and the IBM PC
in the business market. In Australia, much hangs on the accep-
tance of Macintosh and the revamped Lisa line.
Boomier Boom. Apple's year was rather better in New
Zealand. The He remained the top-selling micro, gaining 26 per-
cent of new business. But IBM's PC was gaining fast, moving
from 0 to 20 percent of 1983 sales.
A major survey of the New Zealand computer market pub-
lished last December foretold a huge micro boom in 1984: It was
predicted that the value of the entire installed micro base would
rise by a whopping 86 percent. The survey suggested that
business and professional markets would see the largest growth,
followed by the home and education markets, in that order. About
half of all purchases would be made by first-time computer users.
By the end of 1983, there were an estimated thirty thousand
Apple Us in Australia. New Zealand, with about seven thousand
machines, had far fewer, though more on a per capita basis.
Good numbers of Apples are in Australian homes, but in New
Zealand home sales are less than 1 percent of the Apple market.
An Apple is too costly for the average Kiwi, who, if he has one,
probably has a commercial excuse for it. (Sometimes rather flim-
sy, of course!)
Australia has particularly strong user groups. Largest is the
Sydney Apple User Group, with more than five hundred
members. The Sydney group has published more than forty
double-sided program disks, puts out a monthly magazine, and
has installed its own electronic bulletin board, through which it
sells cheap club-designed modems and communications software.
New Zealand's relatively high per capita Apple ownership
reflects an extraordinarily high number of computers in education
and a strong business base. Apple's New Zealand distributors
don't consider the Apple a home computer, while Apple Australia
MAY 1984
S O C T A I If
103
must be very worried about losing its home market to cheaper
brands. Home users and hobbyists in both countries are buying
vast quantities of micros costing less than $1,000, such as the
Commodore 64 and VIC, Sinclair Spectrum and ZX81, and a
plethora of Japanese models.
It is a tragedy that, while the level of home interest is probably
nearly as high down under as it is in the United States, entry-level
computers tend to be underpowered machines with cassette
storage that are capable of playing games, and teaching Basic, but
little else in the way of practical applications.
From Apple to Zapple. In 1982, Apple's New Zealand
agent, CED Distributors, scored a marketing coup by offering
one computer to every high school in the country— at half price.
Schools took the bait. Even after antidumping levies were added
to the price, Apple ended up with a micro in nine out of every ten
high schools. Sales have since increased, and about 95 percent of
all high schools have at least one Apple. Some 80 percent of all
computers in New Zealand schools are Apples.
Most schools have computer clubs, popular with the many
students who don't have a computer at home but who are still able
to converse in machine language as if it were their mother tongue.
Surprisingly high numbers of New Zealand schools have large
Apple networks, something that's rarely found in Australia,
where few schools have more than five machines.
This year, CED Distributors is consolidating its support for
education by introducing the "New Zealand Beginning," a small
Source-styled database and bulletin board aimed particularly at
the education market.
Wellington High, a school with about one thousand students,
is on the wrong side of the tracks in New Zealand's capital city.
Once the school had difficulty attracting students and maintaining
student numbers. Now that has changed, largely because Wel-
lington offers the most successful computer courses in town— on
Apples, of course.
Currently the school runs seventeen He's with disk drives and
printers, linked in a Nestar network to forty megabytes of hard
disk storage. The network can take a maximum of sixty-four Ap-
ples, a goal that may well be achieved before too long, if com-
puter director Martin Leda has his way.
The school got its first Apples in 1980 as donations from the
Parent-Teacher Association. Students themselves subsequently
won two more computers in programming competitions. But
most of the network has been bought out of profits from evening
computing classes for adults. There's been extraordinary interest
in the adult computer program, which this year has more than
thirty classes of about twenty-four people each. Leda expects that
more classes will be added as the year progresses. Wellington
High also earns money hiring out its equipment to computer
camps during school holidays.
Like most New Zealand schools, Wellington High stresses
Logo, especially for younger students. This approach has been
encouraged by Apple's distributors, who include Logo in their
package for schools. A similar Apple policy has led to
widespread use of Pascal. As a result, it's claimed, there's more
intensive high school use of these languages in New Zealand than
there is in any other country.
At Wellington High, Logo is used in computer awareness
classes by third- and fourth-form (eighth- and ninth-grade)
students, who also learn a little Basic. Older students move to
UCSD Pascal.
After eighteen months of teaching Logo, Martin Leda is an
Rocky cliffs off the coast of Sydney, Australia. Then called Port Jackson,
the city was founded as a British penal colony in 1 788.
enthusiast. "I'm beginning to see what Seymour Papert was talk-
ing about when he said students should be programming the com-
puters not because they want to learn to be commercial program-
mers but to train their own thinking," Leda says.
His experience is that it's hard to teach Basic as a first
language. He finds that students who excel are those who are
already mathematically bright and "would learn anything you put
in front of them.
"Any student who has trouble with math will find computer
programming difficult if he's taught Basic," he explains. "We're
trying to develop the attitude here that programming and using a
computer isn't difficult— it's for everybody."
Aside from work with computer languages, the school en-
courages students to look on the computer as a tool— with Apple
Writer He, VisiCalc, accounting packages, and databases— for in-
vestigating ideas in mathematics, physics, graphics, social
studies, and physical education.
Other than the languages and business packages, most soft-
ware in the schools is from New Zealand sources. Apart from
some public domain material, little American education software
is used.
Aussie Net. At present, few large networks exist in Australian
schools, although this may change with the introduction of cheap
networking systems. The largest single installation at present is at
the New South Wales Institute of Technology's accountancy
school, where twenty computers are networked through Omninet
to a Corvus ten-megabyte storage system. The school uses its
own software, plus standard commercial accounting and spread-
sheet packages.
One of the institute's lecturers, Steve Trevillion, presented a
paper on the system to the 1982 Business Schools' Conference in
San Francisco. He was surprised to find that the Australian
104
WUTAI I
MAY 1984
Kangaroos run free on protected land down under. Born small enough to
fit several into a teaspoon, baby kangaroos crawl into their mother's
pouches unaided.
system was ahead of the pack. "Our uses of the Apple personal
computer proved far more advanced than methods used in other
countries," Trevillion said. "Universities in Europe, England,
and the U.S. will probably follow Australia in its use of
microcomputers . ' '
Overall, Apple hasn't done as well in Australian schools as it
has in New Zealand's educational settings, although it is still the
biggest single micro supplier, with seventy-five hundred units in-
stalled. Late last year an Australian Schools Commission report
recommended the microcomputers from Apple, BBC, and
Microbee for general school use. At around the same time the
Commonwealth Government established a school computer ad-
visory board and promised to spend $18 million on school com-
puting over the next three years. Emphasis was to be placed at the
junior secondary school level. (This contrasts with the New
Zealand Minister of Education's priorities, which are, in order,
college, secondary, and elementary schools.)
Neither country has come to appreciate the value of computers
in elementary education.
Tasmania, an Australian state, known because of its fruit
crops as the Apple Isle, has (appropriately enough) the highest
proportion of Apples in Australian schools. It has also been most
innovative in their use. Tasmanian education programs are used
throughout Australia and even in New Zealand.
Most respected of the Tasmanian programs is Convicts, a
database with details of reluctant settlers who arrived with the
First Fleet of 1788. Australians are fascinated by their convict
past, and this makes students eager to delve into the program and
learn about information technologies.
Perhaps the most impressive single Australian education
package is Direct Helper, a reading and spelling program de-
signed especially for slow readers.
Australia's first computer program to help improve hand-
writing is in the final stages of testing by the Australian National
University in the capital city, Canberra. Designed over a period
of eight years, the program makes use of Apple lis, graphics
tablets, and Intex Talkers. Results in local schools have been en-
couraging, and commercial release is intended.
Australian education authorities have also produced in-
teresting computer-aided instruction programs based on arcade
action games, while excellent spelling and foreign language
tutors have been created by a Sydney software house, Lothlorien
Farming.
Software Takes a Trashing. But in neither Australia nor
New Zealand are education observers satisfied with the overall
range of quality of courseware available for schools. One critic is
Arthur Sale, a professor of information science at the University
of Tasmania: "Probably 90 percent of all courseware available
today is junk," he asserts. Sale argues that there's room for a
substantial Australian education software industry, given the ex-
pertise available. While more extreme in his criticisms than most
educators, Sale does highlight a problem with American soft-
ware: In spite of twenty years' conditioning by U.S. television
programs, a broad cultural gap still exists. Many social values
differ, and both Australia and New Zealand use metric measure-
ments and British word spellings.
Teachers in Australia, like teachers everywhere, are finding it
hard to keep up with the computer revolution— and particularly
with some of their brighter students who, of course, spend enor-
mous amounts of time at the keyboard. Seventeen-year-old
Michael Orphanides actually took over the computer class at his
Sydney high school. Orphanides doesn't own an Apple yet, but
he used the school's computer to write a book, Outstanding
Games for the Apple II, which has been released in the United
Kingdom. He also has a contract to write programs for Australian
Personal Computer magazine.
Camping with Apples. Glyn Hurley started the first residen-
tial computer camps in New Zealand, but he'd happily snap his
fingers and make computers disappear. An education
psychologist, Hurley has reservations about the social conse-
quences of computerization. But he's pragmatic and aware that
the machines are here to stay. "Computers are the only way to
go, so I'm trying to do something about it," he says.
Hurley likens the dangers of computers to those of television,
but says computers can have far graver consequences. "People
said TV would do terrible things to us. It did kill conversation and
decrease interaction between people, but we've adapted to it,"
Hurley says. "TV has nowhere near the degree of involvement
that a computer has. TV is interest-arousing, but the ultimate in
human experience is interactive performance. Computers require
interactive performance."
Hurley says computers encourage complete absorption,
something that makes people quite unaware of the passage of
time. But it doesn't necessarily make people happy, and it cer-
tainly doesn't improve communication between people. To
counteract such insidious tendencies, Glyn Hurley works social
skills components into his camps by means of sessions of what he
terms "social training."
"We have very simple exercises, like the youngsters turning
to look at each other when they're talking, or passing com-
pliments," he says. An important part of the sessions is con-
fidence building, which Hurley considers particularly helpful to
the many children he sees who are introverted or lack confidence.
Some of the activities are organized so that children have to co-
MAY 1984
s o r T A L k
105
operate in pairs.
Students are encouraged to think of the computer as a tool, not
as an end unto itself.
Most activities at his six-day camps are standard fare:
physical activities, including an outdoor challenge course, gym
work, tennis, skating, hiking and nature study in the nearby
mountains, swimming, and, of course, computer time, the favor-
ite of all.
The kids have one computer each, either an Apple, a Commo-
dore VIC, or a BBC Acorn. Apples are used especially with
rank beginners, because of the availability of Logo. More ad-
vanced kids work on self-paced lessons in Basic and Pascal.
Older students can also learn about word processing, flow chart-
ing, file writing, and database operation.
Glyn Hurley is particularly interested in databases, believing
effective use of them to be the ultimate point of computer train-
ing. Senior students even have the opportunity to contact overseas
databases, such as The Source.
Beach Blanket Basic. Competing with Glyn Hurley's setup
in New Zealand are camps run by a former associate of Hurley's,
Barry Small. Small's Adventure Holidays organization even ex-
ports its live-in camps across the Tasman Sea to Eleanora
Heights, within cooee of Sydney's famous surfing beaches.
The only other residential computer camp in Australia is at a
farm near Mount Barney National Park in Queensland. Accom-
modating eight people at a time, Lynn and Tom McHale's camp
is aimed particularly at parents who want to unravel the mysteries
of computing along with their children.
Other Australian holiday computer courses are nonresi-
dential—at Sydney's University of New South Wales and Ade-
laide's Institute of Technology.
Digging the Good Dirt. New Zealand may be well into the
computer revolution, but the big money is still made down on the
farm. Most export income comes from sheep meat, beef, wool,
dairy products, and horticultural produce, especially apples and
kiwifruit.
This small country was developed as Britain's farm in the
South Pacific, and that was the basis for a standard of living that
was the fifth highest in the world at one point during the 1950s.
But times change; terms of trade for primary products declined,
and traditional markets in Europe have gradually been closed off
by European Economic Community trading policies. Agricultural
protectionism in the United States and Japan hasn't helped either.
With declining markets and declining prices, New Zealand's
farmers, already reckoned among the world's most efficient,
have had to look for even greater efficiencies. Many are consider-
ing microcomputers and agriculture databases. At present four
local companies sell farm computing systems. Two of these
systems run on the Apple EI.
In Christchurch, Rural Computer Systems supplies a hard-
ware and software service adapted from the English Farmplan
system, which is also used in European countries, the U.S.,
Australia, and South Africa. The system includes a specialized
database, a dozen or so financial and farm management templates
for either VisiCalc or Multiplan, and a variety of other financial
and farm management programs.
You can even purchase programs to raise deer, currently a
fashionable and profitable activity. (The deer yield venison and
high-priced antler velvet, which is exported to Korea for use in
aphrodisiacs.) Reliability was the reason another farm software
house, Agricultural Computer Services, chose Apples. The new
Rank beginners at a New Zealand computer camp are lucky enough to
begin on Apples. After a session with Logo, the kids can then go hike,
swim, or play tennis.
company, based in Napier in the North Island's Hawke Bay, is a
joint venture between a farm service company and a microcom-
puter retailer. It offers cash flow recording systems, stud record-
ing software, and a number of smaller utility programs.
Many farms in the region are some distance from service
facilities in Napier, so the likelihood of breakdowns had to be
minimized. Company head Dave Smith also likes Apple's power
supply.
"It's big, and that's important in country areas where the
power supply fluctuates," he says. "Some machines crash im-
mediately if there's a power flip, but the Apple is less likely to do
that. The power can drop off to the point where the picture disap-
pears from the screen completely, but it comes back. The same
goes for the disk drives."
Cows Coming On-Line. This year heralds the introduction of
two rural videotex databases. One of these, the Bureau of
Primary Information, is based on the UK Prestel standard and can
also be accessed by micros.
A pilot system for dairy farmers began in March, while what
is claimed as one of the world's most comprehensive veterinary
databases comes on-line this month. The scheme was started by
Cargill McKenzie and Peter Trim, former senior information
staffers at New Zealand's ministry of agriculture and fisheries.
Trim is a qualified veterinary surgeon, which may explain the
early attention to animal health.
McKenzie admits that micros are ultimately a better way for
farmers to go, but says the price puts them off. Videotex ter-
minals cost only $700, and farmers can use them with their televi-
sion sets.
"You don't convince a farmer to spend $5,000 on something
very new or novel very easily," Cargill says. "But if he buys a
videotex terminal he may later move upward to a micro, because
he'll be familiarizing himself with computer technology."
Eighty-Column March. A small but growing Apple pe-
ripherals industry exists in both Australia and New Zealand.
The best-known item in the United States is probably Zofarry
Enterprises's Vision-80 card, which until the advent of Videx's
Ultraterm was generally regarded as the industry standard. A
feature of the Vision-80 is its smart terminal emulation com-
munications mode.
Zofarry now has a wider range of products, including eighty-
column preboot disks for Apple Writer II and VisiCalc, 128K and
256K memory expansion cards, and a variety of utility programs.
Buzzing Between Machines. Communications is the com-
puter buzzword everywhere these days. The Australian-designed
Netcomm card enables communication between Apples and
Young campers Logoing at the Te Horo, New Zealand, computer camp.
Another camp across the Tasman Sea at Eleanora Heights offers access to
surfing beaches.
nearly all IBM mainframes. Apple Computer was impressed and
has taken up worldwide marketing rights.
Pirates on the Software Seas. Software running on Australa-
sian Apples is largely from America. Most applications aren't
worth developing locally. The reasons? A small market and the
prevalence of software piracy. One Auckland micro retailer
claims that more than 90 percent of software running on local Ap-
ples is pirated. Microshop, a Wellington retailer, reckons pirate
copies account for 20 percent of business use, 40 percent of
games use, and 80 percent of education use. Any Australasian
hoping to make his pile in the software business had better
develop markets overseas or have a cast-iron protection system.
With software costing so much, the two countries possess some
of the most active and sophisticated Blackbeards south of the
Bahamas. Some representative prices illustrate their incentive.
Screenwriter II is priced at about $125 in the U.S., $195 in
Australia, and $275 in New Zealand. Americans pay about $175
for Multiplan; in Australia it is $300 and in New Zealand $600.
MasterType is just under $40 in the United States, $65 in
Australia, and $95 in New Zealand. Choplifter is about $35 in the
United States, $48 in Australia, and $85 in New Zealand. And
remember, Aussies and Kiwis buy these programs with lower
average wages than U.S. consumers.
Parents would love to buy Rocky 's Boots for their kids, but
must ask themselves "Is it worth $115?" That much money
would buy a lot of educational books. But the New Zealand
Customs Department rates books (even Playboyl) duty-free
"cultural" items while slamming computer programs with 27.5
percent duty and 40 percent sales tax.
Strange Fruit. Australians are no more honest than New
Zealanders. In fact, the situation there has worsened since a re-
cent decision against Apple in an action against a Melbourne
retailer of Taiwanese Wombat copies. As Apple's case was partly
based on proprietary programs copied by Wombat, the court
decision has thrown the software industry into turmoil.
In January a group calling itself the Public Domain Software
Library announced that it would sell cheap copied software. The
Sydney Morning Herald has advertised the Banana personal com-
puter for $489. This tasty fruit may be garnished with Apple soft-
ware at "unbelievable prices." Meanwhile, a heavily lobbied
Australian Government has promised early legislation, retroac-
tive if necessary, to modernize its copyright laws.
In spite of this difficult environment, good software is being
written in both countries, and useful export trade is developing.
Advantages often cited by local software developers include high
educational standards, lower wage structures, and inventive,
lateral-thinking populations. The latter attributes have developed
as a result of the two countries' relative isolation from the world,
which has often forced them to produce quick homegrown solu-
tions to technical problems.
Particularly attractive is the low cost of sending software to
the Northern Hemisphere, compared to freighting of bulky tradi-
tional agricultural and mineral exports. Software houses are now
actively seeking associations and joint ventures with British, Jap-
anese, and American companies. The most successful of these to
date has been in the Burroughs rather than Apple field.
When Burroughs decided to adopt the Logistics Information
Network Compiler (LINC) "fourth generation" program
development package as its software flagship, it could have
transferred the development team lock, stock, and barrel to
Detroit. Instead the company let the group remain in
Christchurch, New Zealand, and the product has since become a
substantial export earner.
Communicating with the Burroughs head office is no problem
with air freight and electronic mail, and LINC inventors Peter
Hoskins and Gil Simpson think they work better in their own
country's less hurried environment. In three years Burroughs has
invested nearly $9 million in LINC development, and Hoskins
expects an equal sum will come his way in the next three years.
It's been a good investment: The LINC people won't say how
much the product has earned, but other sources estimate total in-
ternational sales in the past two years at around eighty million
U.S. dollars.
How nice it would be if, alongside each of their dairy factories
or wool stores, New Zealand and Australia could have a software
house earning that kind of money! It is little wonder that phrases
such as "sunrise industries" and "high-tech future" have sud-
denly become so trendy among down under politicians of all per-
suasions. 31
1
"Popular Computing says
The Home Accountant
does just about everything
you'd ask of a personal
finance package."*
"You mean you can use
The Home Accountant
for business,
too?!"
"Absolutely.
Wouldn't want to run
my consulting firm
without it."
"The Home Accountant
Is the #1 best-selling
home finance package
in the world."
"The Home Accountant
even flags transactions for tax time.
And that's a big time-saver
because I can transfer information
to The Tax Advantage™ program
and easily figure out what I owe."
"My company has
5 checking accounts,
6 business credit cards
and 3 money market
funds to keep track of.
The Home Accountant
makes it easy."
I
"Softalk Magazine
says it's the most
thorough and
powerful program
of its kind." t
"I agree."
"It automatically prints
my checks. And gives
them a very
professional look."
"The Home Accountant
is great for
realistic budgeting."
"I'm so glad you brought
it home. I never thought
that creating a budget
and managing money
could be so easy."
"You can create trend analyst!
graphs for each budget
category, so you can make
isual comparisons of where
you stand financially."
"And you can do it in
full-scale color graphics."
* Popular Computing, November, 1982
t Apple Softalk, April, 1982
"The Home Accountant
will even print a
personal financial statement
and net worth statement.
Keeps me right on top of
my finances."
Everyone's talking about The Home Accountant.
Is it because it's the #1 bestselling
home finance package in the world? Or
because it's extremely thorough and
powerful and easy to use? Or because
it's great for home and business use?
Or because it has up to 200 budget
categories and handles up to 5
checking accounts?
Yes. But there are a lot more reasons
why people buy The Home Accountant.
And why you will, too.
Because The Home Accountant can
literally save you hours of time. And
take the headache out of handling your
finances. Whether it's setting up a budget,
cataloging your expenses, balancing
your checkbooks or handling your
credit cards and money market funds.
For personal or business use.
The Home Accountant and The Tax Advantage are registered trademarks of Continental Software Apple i
The Home Accountant will even
print net worth and financial state-
ments. Not to mention being a lifesaver
at tax time. Especially when you're able
to transfer information onto Continen-
tal's The Tax Advantage™ program and
figure out what you owe. Quickly.
In short, The Home Accountant is the
most effective software program there
is for managing your money. And man-
aging it easily.
Stop by your Continental Software
dealer today and pick up The Home
Accountant. You'll see what everyone's
talking about.
The Home Accountant is available
for Apple II/IIe, IBM PC/XT, Atari
400/800/1200XL, Osborne® TRS-80
Models III/4, Commodore 64, Texas
Instruments Professional, Zenith
Z-100/110, Compaq and KayPro compu-
ters. Actual budget capacities will vary
with each computer.
For your free 64 page booklet, "Tips
For Buying Software," please write
Continental Software, Dept. STA,
11223 South Hindry Avenue, Los
Angeles, CA 90045,
213/417-8470.
Continental
Software
A Division of Arrays, Inc.
THE GIFT OF SPEECH. Now your computer can tell you the words you've always
wanted to hear. Go ahead. Plug in a Mockingboard and feed your computer some
lines. Sweet Micro Systems, Cranston, Rl 02920.(800) 341-8001.
Mockingboard speech is easy to understand, unlimited in vocabulary and uses very
little memory. No wonder over 40 leading software companies will soon be talking
to you on Mockingboard. And you thought it was just for music and sound effects.
M O C K I N
PERSONAL COMPUTING
OLD WORL
BT DAVID HUNTER
Extremely individualistic and infinitely more patient, Euro-
peans live life at a slower pace than people in the United States.
They believe that Americans only see the beginning and the end,
never the middle. The histories of some countries are not counted
by century but by millenia.
Europeans may be slower to embrace, and excel at, personal
computing than other people in the world. But this is not due to
backwardness, laziness, snobbishness, and slowness— meaning
lack of intellectual wherewithal.
If anything explains their slower pace, it's that Europeans are
too practical, too cautious, too conservative, and too intellectual.
They are not without shortcomings, but these are the strengths
that keep Europe standing tall in even the shakiest of times. Not
rushing headlong into a volatile market like the worldwide com-
puter industry is hardly due to lack of initiative. Let's not forget
that it was European scientists and researchers who supplied the
basic knowledge needed to create computers. Let's not forget that
America is a melting pot and that Steve Wozniak was not bred of
generations of drawling Texans.
Emerging Europeans. On a person-to-person basis, most
Europeans are not as gung-ho about personal computers as Amer-
icans. In France, though, this is changing. In England, it depends
on your definition of a personal computer. Below the six-hun-
dred-dollar price range, so-called personal computers are quite
popular. In England, there's this homegrown Nolan Bushnell-like
guy named Clive Sinclair who has sold hundreds of thousands of
his ZX-80 and ZX-81 home computers.
Commodore computers are fairly popular in some countries
because they sell for less than $300. The price factor, far more
than the concept, has kept true personal computing from really
taking off there. In fact, it's not all that different than it was in the
United States a few years ago. But pricing is not the only inhibit-
ing factor, just the most obvious one.
People in Europe are not the impulsive buyers Americans are.
They ask over and over again, "What will this thing do for me?"
Again, there is a certain similarity to the situation in the United
States. American consumers have gobbled up ten million or so
cheap computers with which they can play Pac-Man. But Apple
has only sold a million and a half personal computers.
When you add to the basic conservative European attitude to-
ward new technology the fact that good software is often difficult
to find, it's not surprising that personal computing in Europe is
just now growing up. "Personal" software is practically nonexis-
tent. Europeans on the whole do not share Americans' love of ar-
cade, strategy, adventure, and fantasy role-playing games. Up
until last year, the vast majority of Apples were used in busi-
ness—for accounting, managing inventories, forecasting, word
processing, and the like.
But the situation appears to be changing. In Europe, 1983 was
a very good year for Apple. Dealers now number around fifteen
hundred in the twenty-one countries Apple considers its European
market— the United Kingdom, West Germany, France, the Neth-
erlands, Italy, Austria, Belgium, Sweden, Cyprus, Spain, Den-
mark, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Israel, Malta, Norway, Portu-
gal, Switzerland, Turkey, and Yugoslavia.
The folks at Apple Computer International, Apple's strategic
center for European marketing and sales located just outside
Paris, say that Europe tends to fall into north and south regions
characterized by the culture and mentality of the inhabitants.
Generally speaking, countries like France and Italy have been
faster to accept the personal computer phenomenon because the
people's personalities are lighter, more creative, with even a cer-
tain sense of playful craziness, whereas the northern peoples,
such as those in England and West Germany, approach the whole
thing more logically.
The major European countries for Apple are England,
France, Italy, and West Germany, with the rest lumped together
in a category known as the General European Area. This is not to
say that other countries are not as important, but Sweden, for in-
stance, has sales numbering only a few thousand. A country like
France, meanwhile, is fast becoming a major market.
The key for Apple, and for personal computing in general, is
to localize the product so that it appeals to a specific country's
consumers. Localization is a term that applies to the design of the
machine itself— such as the keyboard, character set EPROMs,
and video interface. For instance, most European languages have
different ways of writing quotation marks, monetary symbols,
and accent marks; many also have additional letters in the
alphabets. Localization also refers to the process software must
go through before it can appeal to any but those who understand
English.
Interpretive EuroApples. Localization, however, involves
much more than just changing English into German and recon-
figuring keyboards. The way software is structured and the way it
performs are subject to a wide range of conditions throughout
Europe. Similarly, the way Apples are marketed and supported is
different from country to country. The real trick is to walk the
thin line of localizing a product for each country but not losing the
overall consistency that makes an Apple recognizable whether it's
in the hands of a user in Marseille, Osaka, or Fort Worth.
The problem of importing good software from the States is be-
ing solved slowly but surely. Apple itself is localizing most of its
popular packages, including Apple Writer, III E-Z Pieces, Ap-
pleWorks, Basic, Logo, Pascal, and more. Some of the large
American firms are also taking an active interest in marketing
their software in Europe. Among these are Microsoft, Lotus, and
Sir-tech.
Still, the root of the software problem lies in European soil.
There just hasn't been enough good local software— the kind the
Europeans would know best how to create — to generate interest in
personal computing. A flood of entrepreneur- founded software
firms hasn't swept this region as it has the United States.
One way Apple is helping to change this situation is by en-
couraging European companies to market their software in the
United States and other foreign countries. If Apple is
metaphorically in the record player business, then the company is
doing its best to help people make records that play on its
machines. And, like in the record business, it's crucial that soft-
ware appeal to a population's culture rather than only to its in-
tellect. Apple software must become more than just another
American anomaly. It must become part of the European value
system. The best way for Apple to do this is to show Europeans
how to create their own software instead of leaving them to use
refurbished American wares.
One important area is education, and Apples are finding their
way into European schools in increasing numbers. Apple has a
Kids Can't Wait-type program in most countries. In France the
program is called The Future Can't Wait and last year Apple sold
ten thousand He's to French schools. In England, Apple has a lot
Something no modem has ever said before.
As you'll notice, the Apple Modem is hardly
noticeable under a desk phone.
If you're looking for a premium modem
without a premium price, here's a word of advice:
Apple.
Introducing the Apple Modem 300. And, to
keep up with the busi-
ness world, our faster
Apple Modem 1200.
Inside, they're pack-
ed with all the technical
wizardry you would want
in an intelligent modem.
Auto-dial. Auto-answer.
Built-in error diagnostics.
And compatibility with all the latest advanced
communications software.
But the real message is located outside, due
north of the little green light.
That one familiar symbol tells you as much
as a gigabyte of specs. It says Apple quality Apple
technology And in the unlikely event you should
need it, Apple service.
It also means total compatibility with what-
ever Apple you own. Particularly since we include
the right accessory kit to get any system in our line
on line. Immediately
We even give you a subscription offer to
THE SOURCE'and a free demonstration of Compu-
Serve! Together, they let you access almost any
subject known to mainframes.
News reports. Dow Jones averages.
Sports scores. Closing prices on pork bellies.
You can send electronic mail. Play games.
Bank at home. Make friends. Influence people.
Find the lowest air fares for business trips. Or do
almost anything else you like.
And since the computer age happens to
coincide with the plastic age, you can charge your
Apple Modem with an Apple Credit Card.
Which, along with the low price, makes
buying an Apple Modem as much fun as using one.
That's something no modem has
been able to say before,
either.
Vie cable, phone cord and
power supply are all included. Ami
we offer a serial interface card for tlx
Apple lie at an unusually reasonable price.
Soon there'll be just two kinds of people.
Those who use computers. And ,
those who use Apples.'
For an authorized Apple dealer nearest you call (800) 538-9696. In Canada, call (800) 268-7796 or (800) 268-7637. © 1984 Apple Computer, Inc. Apple and the Apple logo are registered
trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc. CompuServe is a registerd trademark of CompuServe Corp. THE SOURCE is a servicemark of Source Telecomputing Corporation, a subsidiary ofThe Reader's Digest Association, Inc.
of competition from the Acorn, a locally produced machine.
Price, again, is something of a barrier, preventing widespread
use of personal computers in education in Europe.
EuroMacs on the Move. A plan similar to Apple's stateside
University Consortium program with Macintosh is being con-
sidered. But higher education in Europe is much different than in
the United States. Getting universities to agree to buy $2 million
worth of merchandise, produce software, and then share that soft-
ware will be a tricky business. Apple is convinced, though, that
Europeans can only gain from such a program. Putting Macintosh
technology into the hands of eager students is intended to en-
courage a homegrown software industry.
In terms of add-on hardware and peripherals, there's a grow-
ing number of companies offering such high-end items as
joysticks and paddles. And a few manufacturers are bringing out
hard disks. But in hardware, as everywhere, the practicality of
most Europeans is evident. There is no reason, for instance, for a
company to introduce a new Z-80 card when Microsoft already
offers one. The same logic applies to monitors and printers.
Currently, only a very small fraction of Europeans work out
of their homes with personal computers. Resistance to this trend
stems from the same attitudes that can be found in the United
States: Many people just plain like going somewhere to work.
The facts that most employers don't trust their workers and that
most employees are fond of interacting with their fellows are
keeping the so-called electronic cottage from catching on in
Europe and the United States.
On the other hand, there are practical reasons why working at
home may one day be mandatory for some Europeans. Cities
such as Paris and London are so choked with automobile traffic
that the mechanics of moving people in and out each day is
becoming a major concern. And the time people spend in
automobiles, or on buses and trains, is essentially wasted.
People will tend to work at home when the infrastructure
allows them to— when there are less expensive communications
and a deliberate democratization of business practices.
Employers have to realize that it doesn't always matter where
people reside while they work. What counts is the result of the
work. People can be paid according to their productivity, not just
according to attendance.
The Videotex Challenge. One potential threat to personal
computing in Europe is videotex, a system whereby graphics and
text are sent to dumb terminals in homes via telephone lines. Both
France and England have burgeoning videotex services and are
years ahead of the United States in this promising technology. In
France, for instance, videotex is replacing the need for a
telephone directory service. Using a small terminal with a full
keyboard and screen, Parisians can get information faster and
more efficientiy by searching through directories than by talking
over the phone. Many other information services are available,
but, since the terminals only receive information, videotex is by
no means comparable to personal computing.
Still, videotex is continuing to evolve. There is the possibility
of two-way videotex becoming affordable and practical sometime
this century. There is also the possibility that manufacturers could
include video recorders, television sets, stereos, and personal
computers in one big package. These mass marketing approaches
to personal computing are more a challenge than a threat to com-
panies like Apple. Videotex is roughly akin to a state-issued bicy-
cle, and a TV/stereo/pc is an expensive RV. Personal computers
are private cars, ranging in price and performance from inexpen-
sive Volkswagens to BMWs and Mercedeses.
The speed of penetration of new technology in Europe, ac-
cording to some, is traditionally slow at first. Whether it be com-
puters, stereos, or videotape players, a foreign company can ex-
pect about 10 percent of its sales to come from Europe until the
technology matures. But once this happens, Europe may account
for more than 50 percent of sales.
The total GNP for Europe is roughly equal to that of the
United States. And the size of the overall population of Europe is
probably a little more than that of the States. At some point the
European market is likely to equal or even surpass the U.S.
market.
American companies have to foster a two-way situation, a
more balanced trade with Europe. There are practical reasons for
this approach, but the motives need not be limited to increasing
profits alone.
Life Goes On. Last month in a special cover story, Newsweek
painted a not-so-pretty picture of Europe. In most countries high
unemployment is a problem. European industries are struggling
because of both the current economic slump and increased
foreign competition. Cooperation between the various countries
seems to be at a low point; both the EEC (European Economic
Community) and NATO alliances are in trouble.
Relations between the United States and some European coun-
tries are strained. Our foreign policy is met with expressions of
approval or with angry scowls. Likewise, American companies
that set up shop on European soil are sometimes welcomed and
sometimes given the cold shoulder.
When approaching the subject of personal computing in the
Old World, it's impossible to ignore the overall bad news from
Europe, but the generally bleak picture that's painted by the mass
media is sometimes a less than accurate representation of what's
going on. The media has jumped on the "Decline of Europe"
bandwagon, just as it has heralded the arrival of the personal
computer industry shakeout. Another point of view is that Europe
is just going through one of its periodic economic slumps and the
American computer industry is just shaking off the slaggards and
bunglers.
Okay. You ask, "On a personal level, what about the one out
of every ten Europeans who is out of work? What about all those
workers that Coleco just laid off?" Without question these are
tragedies on a personal level. But to make the blanket statements
that IBM, with its multi-billion-dollar guns, is going to sink Ap-
ple, and that America and "Japan Inc." are going to collectively
sink Europe, is to ignore both the lessons of history and the reali-
ty that surrounds us.
Apple's European Family Ties. In the late seventies, a hardy
group of pioneers took their relatively primitive Apple U and II
Plus computers and started an industry that is still growing, still
contributing wonderful things to life here in the United States.
The Artwicks, Budges, Bricklins, Clardys, Williamses,
Carlstons, Pelczarskis, Kapors, Woodheads, Greenbergs, and
Wagners have climbed to great heights and still haven't reached
the top of the software world.
Can you imagine what those pioneers could have accom-
plished had they started with Macs, He's, He's, and Lisas? Well,
get ready. The Europeans are getting into stride, and they have
the benefit of years of Apple's march forward in hardware design.
Expect to see some great software coming from over there in the
next few years. Expect to see software with a touch of English
manners, French joie de vivre, and Italian spice. 31
The Pick of the Crop
The Brady Co. now has on display
the tastiest, crunchiest, and shiniest
books for you and your Apple. Among
all the Apple volumes on the market,
only Brady presents the Pick of the
Crop.
To harvest the best, the Brady
Company begins early in the season
by choosing with care, the authors
who are the experts in the personal
computing field. They are also the
writers and teachers with the most
experience with the Apple.
They're then set to work under the
optimum creative climate, so they
can write the books you'll want to
read. The Brady Co. publishes their
work in attractive, durable volumes,
giving you a nourishing product at an
affordable price. The result is an
Apple book as good on the inside as it
looks on the outside, with enough
great taste to stay with you for a long,
long time.
"Applesoft BASIC for the
Apple II/IIe"
by Lois Graft Larry Joel Goldstein
This is a practical guide to Apple-
soft BASIC which makes learning
easy, even for those without pro-
gramming experience. Most of the
applications programs can be easily
applied to specific personal and pro-
fessional needs.
1983/320pp/paper/ISBN 0-89303-320-0/
D3200-5/S17.95
"Apple Graphics: Activities
Handbook"
by Harold J. Bailey, J. Edward Kerlin
Here's a "hands on" approach to
learning both low and high resolution
graphics for the Apple. Step-by-step,
users will learn by doing. The
graphics novice and the more sophis-
ticated graphics user will find just the
right activities to maximize the
graphics capabilities of the Apple II
and He.
1983/300pp/ paper / ISBN 0-89303-308-l/$14.95
Book/Diskette 1983/ISBN 0-89303-310-3/$24.95
"Programming the Apple II
and He; A Structured
Approach, Revised and
Enlarged"
by John L. Campbell, Lance
Zimmerman
This is the guide that will take
you down the right path to pro-
gramming your Apple in BASIC. The
approach presents the BASIC lan-
guage as a problem-solving tool,
which gives you quick, easy, and use-
ful results. It shows how to more
effectively write programs starting
simply then proceeding to more
complex ideas.
1 984/650pp/paper/ISBN 0-89303-779-6/$ 1 7.95
Make your selection for your Apple
II or He from the Pick of the Crop at
B. Dalton Booksellers, Waldens,
Crown Books, and other fine book-
stores and computer dealers nation-
wide. Or call, 800-638-0220 for
information. The Brady Co. is a
Prentice-Hall Company, located in
Bowie, MD 20715. ■ ■
| BRADY
f t~
APPLESOFT
for the Apple II & He
1
sJHandbooK
PROGRAMMING
THE APPLE
. Structured Approach
?
116
sunn
MAY 1984
APPLES
IN
GERMANY
The Mercedes of
Personal Computers
BT EDEN RECOR
Apples play a role in a variety of applications in Germany. In
southwest Germany they're pressed and made into apple wine.
The Sachsenhausen section of Frankfurt is well known for this
wine, as many American tourists can attest. Apples are also an
essential ingredient of a fine pastry called Apfelstrudel. Howev-
er, there's another kind of Apple that interests Germans, and it's
made by Apple Computer.
Approximately sixty thousand Apple computers exist in Ger-
many. Of these, only about 5 percent are found in the home.
Also, Apples aren't found in schools here as often as in America.
Instead, they're being used in small businesses and by profes-
sionals such as lawyers and doctors.
Give Me a Home Where the Apfelstrudels Roam. Up until
last year, Apple computers were sold by distributors in this coun-
try. The first distributor was a Hamburg-based company called
Basis. The firm started distributing Apples about two years after
the Commodore started selling in Germany. Then Basis decided
to build its own computer that, amazingly enough, happens to run
Apple software. Another company, Apple Computer Marketing,
then took over the distribution of the Apple, with Basis still main-
taining some distribution rights.
About a year ago, Apple Computer began consolidating its
European operations and bought out several distributors. This
brought European operations under Apple International, head-
quartered in Paris. German distribution is now handled by Apple
Computer Marketing GMBH, with basic prices and strategies
fixed in Paris.
Another reason for Apple's poor showing in the home is cost.
During the early years, Apples cost more in this country than they
did in America. In Germany, it often takes $100,000 collateral to
get a loan of $40,000. Credit cards are almost unknown except in
shops catering to tourists. Home loans normally are for ten-year
periods and have correspondingly higher monthly payments.
These higher loan payments reduce the amount of income that can
be spent on nonessential goods. This means that consumers here
have to save cash before purchasing a car, television, or computer.
A few years ago, the money that could be saved by going to
the United States on vacation and picking up an Apple would pay
plants in Cork, Ireland, and since Apple International's takeover
of the German market, Apple prices have been kept on a par with
those in America, making them more affordable products.
Culture Shock. Americans can be characterized as people
who will first buy a computer, then ask, "Okay, what can it do
for me?" and then go on to find all sorts of uses for it. That at-
titude doesn't exist in Germany. A German will first ask, "What
will it do for me?" and then someone will have to convince him
before he buys. American dealers, used to people dropping in
who already want a computer, don't have to do the same kind of
sales job on people that German dealers do.
As a result, the dealer network in Germany is set up to handle
professional users, which probably explains why about one in ten
Apples sold here is an Apple III. A survey of dealers reveals that
many of them are not sure that there's a use for a computer in the
home. One German attitude is that a computer is for work— and
who wants to do work at home? Many feel that having a computer
pens you up inside the house and somehow corrupts you, making
you forget about other aspects of life. They prefer using their
spare time for gardening, engaging in sports, visiting friends, and
going for walks. The country is not as dependent on television as
America is, and this attitude carries over to computers.
In America, exposure to computers in the school has brought
them into many homes. This hasn't occurred in Germany. Until
recently, the branch of the German government that controls
education had held the position that if school funds were to be
spent on computers, then Commodore machines must be pur-
chased. Most German kids exposed to Commodores have said that
they are great game machines but that they would really like to
have a computer like the Apple in school. Students with Com-
modores at home because of the cost say their next computer will
be an Apple. The computers they have used are viewed as game
machines, and why spend a lot of money to play games?
The situation in the schools may be changing soon. The
government is considering legislation to allow computers to be
donated to schools for tax write-offs similar to the Apple Com-
puter donation program in California. The government may also
be relaxing the restrictions within which computers may be pur-
chased by a school.
This summer, a German-language version of Logo should be
available for the Apple II. Apple is finally being recognized as
having a machine with much to offer higher-grade German
schools. However, there still won't be much happening in the
grade schools because computers are not recognized as having
any use there.
Sports Model or Sedan? An emerging overall awareness of
the personal computer may be changing the situation throughout
the country. One recent Sunday afternoon, a two-hour program
on the use of computers in the home gave a very good European
viewpoint on all the different aspects of home computing. Apple
Computer was heavily featured. Also, three times in the last
month a program called Kinder vom Apple und Atari (Kids of the
Apple and Atari) ran on German television. In addition, major
magazines are now starting to notice personal computers and run
articles on them.
Many people here have been waiting for higher technology
and don't want to risk buying an earlier-generation computer that
may quickly become obsolete. With Apple's introduction of the
Macintosh, the company will probably convince many that an ad-
vanced technology has arrived, one that won't leave them behind.
Apple is considered the Mercedes of personal computers in Ger-
many; a German consumer will save money a long time to buy
one because, as it is in the car, the quality is recognized.
Probably the one event that will most affect home and school
use of the Apple is the introduction of the Etc. This new machine,
with its current Apple software compatibility, German key-
board, low cost, and well-engineered layout, is sure to drive
Apple directly into schools and homes. Sold through department
stores, the lie will bring computers into the sight and reach of
many families that wouldn't normally visit an authorized dealer.
At the same time, businesses will also be considering the other
Apple machines— Mac and Lisa— for those applications where
Apples were not even thought of before.
There's No Mischas like Soft Mischas. Apples in Germany
are now used mostly in professional situations. Most programs
running on the machines are written in Pascal, originally defined
in Switzerland and very quickly accepted in European univer-
sities. Most students studying programming learn it, and most
software houses write exclusively in the language.
Several powerful accounting packages for the II have been
available here for the last three years. Versions have also been
transferred to the HI to take advantage of the extra memory and
capabilities of that machine. Two powerful relational databases,
called Aladdin and Beta, are also available for the two computers,
bringing them mainframe and mini power. In addition, a Lisa-
like database interface called Fred has been developed for the HI
that uses a joystick, and a mouse version will soon follow. All
three packages will soon be available stateside, and the com-
panies that have developed them— Adi and Bensa— will be work-
ing on Mac and Lisa versions.
Many American software companies such as Microsoft,
MicroPro, and VisiCorp are beginning to bring their software to
Europe as German products— all three now have German offices
or distributors. All of Quark's products are being translated into
German and distributed in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria.
Translating software into a foreign language is a long and dif-
ficult job. Many manuals written for U.S. programs can't be
directly translated and often require complete rewrites, especially
of tutorials and examples. German is more difficult than English
in that many of the technical terms require longer words (com-
pound nouns) than in English. Sentence structure is also different
with regard to the location of verbs in German. Often there's no
standard technical term that makes sense in precisely the way it
does in English. Consequently, programs require more coding
area and can overflow memory.
A program such as VisiCalc, which uses a command structure
based on spoken English, is a good example of another problem.
A P for print means little to a German-speaking person, since the
counterpart word in German doesn't start with the same
character. In German, D for drucken would be a better print com-
mand. Some programs intertwine commands into the program-
ming code so well that it's difficult to find and change them easily
in a translation job.
Better than Esperanto. Apple now makes its machines in-
ternationally compatible. Starting with the HI, all Apple products
come with keyboards, character sets, and power supplies for the
The meandering Main River is a tributary of the Rhine, which rises in
Switzerland and flows west across Germany and the Netherlands to the
North Sea. The famous river is navigable by smaller vessels as far as
Cologne.
country in which they're sold. Lisa and Macintosh software
development kits contain tools that help developers convert to
foreign languages, and Apple publishes guidelines on how to
write programs that can be easily translated.
It took special planning by Apple International to ensure that
the Mac would be 50/60 Hz-compatible. As a result of these
efforts, Apple can now announce a machine around the world on
the same day, something few other companies can do.
Quite a few German business clients are "computer-shy," the
way most Americans were a few years ago. They fear they'll hurt
something when they get an error message and immediately
freeze up. A lot less familiar with their systems than their
American counterparts, they call their dealers for help.
Many Apple dealers in Germany are also software develop-
ers, functioning more in the role of consultants than U.S. dealers.
In many cases they design a system to meet a customer's needs,
The Bavarian Alps overlook Apple's central Europe sales and marketing
offices in Munich. Extensively bombed during World War II, the city was
the birthplace of Adolf Hitler's National Socialist German Workers Party.
118
mum
MAY 1984
Life seems barely changed— except for computers— on a small rural farm
in Germany. One-third of West Germany is devoted to agriculture.
install it, and continue to give plenty of postsale support. Since
they are dealing with professional buyers, they charge extra for
this kind of support.
Apple Computer held its first developers conference in Ger-
many last October, the first exposure many software houses had
to Apple's third-party software development efforts. Attendees
were surprised at how much Apple can give in the way of
preliminary software programming tools and marketing help. An-
other conference is scheduled this month.
A lot of software being developed and used in this country is
what's known as vertical market software— specialized packages
for a specific use. Many software houses develop programs for a
small market segment and then make their living customizing it
for each buyer.
Among the more interesting German vertical market pro-
grams are Baeckeri (with three companies using the same name)
and Back. These programs do bakery management, everything
from entering orders as they are taken over the telephone and
handling billing, to determining baking schedules and planning
delivery routes. Kabel is for electric wiring installation and does
cost estimating, calculation of parts, inventory control, and con-
tract writing. Fasu is a driving school management package (in
Germany, everyone must attend driving school to get a driver's
license). Mika, Mischa, and Mipreis are for the production of
windows (for homes and offices, not for Lisas). Jewela is de-
signed for jewelers, who use it to keep track of their inventory.
The Auge of Members Is upon You. There's one large Ap-
ple users group— A.U.G.E. (Apple User's Group Europe)— that
has most of its members in Germany. Currently, members
number about four thousand, 80 percent of whom are
home/hobby-oriented. About half of them own Apples, while the
other half own compatibles of one type or another. Some
members have even built their own Apples. A.U.G.E. {Auge
means eye in German) consists of forty-five different groups
throughout the continent; other local chapters exist in
Switzerland, Luxembourg, Norway, Yugoslavia, and Hungary.
The president of A.U.G.E., Klaus Schmidt, believes that the
Macintosh is reawakening interest in Apple computers and may
bring members back from the various compatibles they've pur-
chased. So far, the group has released about thirty public-domain
disks of various programs. Their address is Postfach 110169,
4200 Oberhausen 11, West Germany.
A WordStar Topping Every Tree. Once users have pur-
chased programs in Germany, it's very unlikely that anyone is
going to come after them for violating a copy protection regula-
tion if they give copies to all their friends. That's not viewed as
being in violation of any copyright laws, unless the disk is actual-
ly sold.
Among developers, there's a reluctance to develop any pro-
grams such as games or educational software for the masses.
Most feel that they won't have large enough sales to warrant
bringing such software to the market. Most home/hobby users
with Apples also have CP/M cards, or something similar, and
possess copies of WordStar and dBase II, given to them by
friends. Thus, it's little wonder that copy protection is on
developers' minds when they bring out new packages in this
country. If anything, widespread copying is one of the most in-
hibiting factors to wider software development in Germany.
As part of a Christmas promotion, Apple included a game
with each He sold. This game was a well-written adventure— said
to be the first written in German— that takes several weeks to
complete. However, several recipients of the bonus game were
surprised when its authors offered it to a dealer for commercial
distribution. They felt that a game should be free!
The Armed Forces March on Their Software. There are
about six hundred thousand Americans associated with the U.S.
armed forces stationed in Germany. A couple of years ago, when
Apple in Cupertino discontinued all mail order sales to the coun-
try, these Americans were abandoned. If they went to German
computer dealers, there were often language problems, and the
dealers couldn't help them much in terms of software. And if they
had friends purchase computers for them stateside and ship them,
they were without warranty service. The problem of adapting to
European voltages also has to be considered.
This situation has started to change, with four military ex-
change computer stores now carrying Apple products. There are
computer clubs forming at large bases, and there are several
original equipment manufacturers selling to Americans. Also,
many German dealers are beginning to recognize that Americans
are very good customers and are giving them better support.
Buying a machine in Germany has several advantages. All
Apple products purchased here have a one-year warranty while
they remain in the country, with easy conversion from 1 10-volt to
220- volt use. German He's also have a keyboard with both Ger-
man and English keycaps. A flick of a switch brings up the de-
sired keyboard and font— an advantage for children who are
learning German.
Apples Are Looking More Delicious. Apple Computer is
starting to take off in Germany. The company currently has
seventy-five busy employees there — almost double the number it
had a year ago. This April, Apple moved to new offices in
Munich, a sure sign of growth. At the Hanover Fair, the world's
largest trade fair (with everything from trains to micros), Apple
had its largest booth ever, including thirty-five debuting Macin-
toshes for use by fair attendees.
Perhaps one of the happiest things to occur in Germany this
year is the country's first Applefest, which will take place in Mu-
nich this summer. Who knows— maybe in a few years the Ap-
plefest will match the Oktoberfest in popularity. 31
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The Problem of Wheat
VI ANDREW CHRISTIE
Mankind has never before had such ample technical and financial
resources for coping with hunger and poverty. The immense task
can be tackled once the necessary collective will is mobilized.
What is necessary can be done, and must be done.
—North-South: A Program For Survival,
The Brandt Commission, 1980
On the first day of 1984, the government of Tunisia made a
mistake. It removed the agricultural subsidy that had kept a
small loaf of bread priced at about seven cents for the last twenty
years. This error increased the price of grain products 100 per-
cent overnight.
A wave of demonstrations, beginning among the poorest peo-
ple in the arid southern rural provinces, swept northward through
the unemployed and underemployed — a fourth of the country's
population— and rocked the capital city of Tunis. President Habib
Bourguiba proclaimed a state of national emergency; tanks
rumbled through the streets; soldiers and police killed some
forty-five rioters in Tunis and sixty more in the provinces.
Finally, six days later, Bourguiba announced that prices would be
returned to their previous levels immediately, and, just as im-
mediately, calm was restored.
The price hike turned out to be a bad idea. But no bad idea is
that simple, according to Charles K. Mann, associate director of
agriculture and social sciences for the Rockefeller Foundation.
"When the proposal to drop the subsidy completely was pre-
sented to the minister of national economy, he asked his staff,
'What would be the financial impact of reducing the subsidy by
about 20 percent instead of dropping it altogether?' " says Mann.
"They advised him that it would take several days to do these
calculations. As a decision was required immediately on the
budget, they went forward with the alternative that had been
costed out— that of dropping the bread subsidy entirely. Had they
had a VisiCalc model, they could have calculated in a matter of
minutes the effect of a 20 percent reduction in the subsidy."
Had computers been involved in the economic ministry's de-
cision to cut off the bread subsidy, a less drastic change in the
bread price might have resulted and the food riots might have
been averted.
"That is the kind of analytical capacity the policymakers [in
Tunisia] want," says Mann, "and it is what computers have
helped them get in the Ministry of Agriculture."
Those computers are Apples, and how they got there is an ad-
venture in foreign affairs. What the Tunisians had to say about
them was "Fantastic!"
This year, famine is looming over Africa again. The African
problem of chronic hunger is deeply rooted, going back to the
policies of the nineteenth-century colonial governments and their
emphasis on industry and urban development at the expense of
agriculture and basic food production. Ironically, the tool that is
the most salient symbol of postindustrial high technology has now
come to the aid of the developing nations in the fight against
hunger— and they will need all the help they can get.
From a Single Seed. In Tunisia, as in many developing na-
tions, much depends on the current disposition of the grain crop.
Since it dominates the diet of the people and is the main source of
calories and nutrients, any fluctuation in the price or availability
of bread is a serious matter. Africa is the only area of the world
where food production has actually declined in the last ten years,
despite increased aid and concern— and in tandem with a steadily
increasing population.
That's why, when the Rockefeller Foundation organized a re-
view of cereal production and policy in 1980, the foundation took
an interest in Tunisia's agricultural fortunes, seriously flagging
since the late seventies.
Charles Mann was part of the team that put Apples in Tuni-
sia's Ministry of Agriculture. He has considerable experience
with the governments of developing nations, the problem of
wheat, and Apple computers.
"There is," says Mann, "broad recognition that many of the
Third World's hunger problems don't stem from a lack of tech-
nology to produce more food, but from poor management— pub-
lic and private— and government policies that discourage food
production. The foundation is working with several Third World
nations to help them overcome these barriers to higher food pro-
duction and consumption."
When the foundation launched its food and agricultural policy
project, the expertise of Chris Mock made her the woman for the
job. She had done extensive research on grain distribution, knew
the structure of the Tunisian Ministry of Agriculture, and was
trained in economic development and management. Mock first
worked in Tunisia in 1974 as a consultant for the U.S. Agency for
International Development (AID) and the World Bank. She came
to the agricultural sciences division of the Rockefeller Foundation
in 1978, and, at her suggestion, Tunisia was included in the
cereal review project.
Mock arrived in Tunis in June 1980 for a series of study plan-
ning sessions with Badr Ben Amar, head of planning for cereals
and economic analysis for the Ministry, and various members of
the Tunisian Commission Centrale and the National Institute of
Agronomy (INAT). Quite apart from the cereal project, her pri-
mary observation was that the Tunisian analysts were spending
too much time doing routine spreadsheet analysis and projections.
Also, they had no rapid information feedback system that could
let them know if they were meeting their objectives in the crucial
areas of fertilizer and herbicide deliveries.
MAY 1984
SOETALK
121
Mock reported to Charles Mann on the frustration and drudg-
ery that plagued workers in the Ministry of Agriculture and in the
county extension offices where they were doing the work of a
computer with pencil and paper. At her urging, project funds
were directed toward the purchase of a dozen programmable cal-
culators for the Ministry's Office of Planning, and two desk cal-
culators for every county office in Tunisia.
"Although work at the lower levels was speeded up substan-
tially," says Mann, "at the higher levels the appetite for a mi-
crocomputer system was whetted rather than satisfied by the
calculators."
The need was clear, and Mann could relate. In his case, he
had been converted to the joys of micros by experiencing the
trials of mainframe computer time-sharing in Turkey in 1976,
when political upheaval blocked the access of his field study
group to the Middle East University's IBM 370. The computer
center's staff was suddenly replaced with personnel more
politically acceptable to the new regime but somewhat lacking in
knowledge of computers. It was two years before the study's data
could be input to the computer.
Mann's work with the data involved "counting manually on
our dining room table the responses to several of the questions on
the survey forms. While this is one way to get a good feel for in-
dividual farmer responses, it creates a certain predisposition to
view warmly the advent of the microcomputer."
While investigating the project's request for a microcom-
puter, Mann discovered that the USDA was operating two North-
star Horizon micros in the Office of Statistics, one floor below the
planning office in the Ministry. However, they were dedicated
solely to the processing of their survey data and had no spare
capacity for other projects. Even if there had been a possibility of
time-sharing, Mann points out, it would have been something of a
moot point.
"In the early months of this installation, apparently the Tuni-
sians had considerable difficulty in getting the Northstars to run
properly. It was an imposing-looking installation," he explains.
"I don't believe it ever crossed Ben Amar's mind that he could
actually sit down at this computer and run programs— if you
needed something done and it involved a computer, you took it to
some programmer and he did it. This clearly was handled as a
computer center-type installation where the only persons allowed
to approach the machine were those trained in its use.
"On one visit, we could not even locate anyone who could
physically unlock the door even to let us look at the machines."
Nevertheless, there were Northstar microcomputers already
in Tunisia. Should the Office of Planning have its own? Mann
consulted with a colleague who used two of them in business.
"After telling me what absolutely marvelous machines they
were, he concluded by saying that if he were in my position, and
despite the Northstar 's technical superiority, he would recom-
mend Apples. In his words, 'They are ubiquitous; they are ap-
proachable; they have a reputation for excellent reliability, and
there is a far larger software universe available for them.' "
In September 1981 a reluctant Rockefeller Foundation—
which wanted hard numbers on the computers' uses and expected
results— agreed to ship the Tunisians two complete Apple sys-
tems. The cereal review project was scheduled to end in Decem-
ber, so Mann planned a package that he hoped would offer the
best possible chance for success in the meager period of time
available. He placed the greatest emphasis in four areas.
"First, that we build into the system a great deal of redun-
dancy so that the failure of any one component would not put the
whole system down; second, that the software be well proven and
include a variety of packages to handle common office and ana-
lytical tasks; third, that there be an excellent training component;
and fourth, that the senior managers as well as the technicians
have hands-on experience with the system so that they would
understand the variety of tasks that it could do."
Everything was set. System specialists John and Barbara
McMullen agreed to design, assemble, and test an appropriate
hardware/ software configuration, and to make periodic trips to
Tunisia to help in getting various applications up and running and
to bring in any needed replacement parts— the nearest Apple serv-
ice facilities then were in Egypt and Europe.
At the last moment, the foundation turned down the request
for funding for the training portion of the program.
Immediately, Mann turned to independent video producer
Martha Stuart and offered to pay out of his own pocket to put to-
gether some instructional videotapes that would at least provide
some kind of training for new microcomputer users. She agreed.
The five videotapes, now known commercially as the Powershar-
ing series, featured the McMullens chatting informally with
Mann and others on the uses of the Apple U and were included
with the system— two Apple II Plus computers and a selection of
commercial software— when it finally arrived in Tunis at the
Ministry of Agriculture's Office of Planning in February 1982.
The cereal policy and production review had been over for
George Varughese (yellow hat), CIMMYT plant scientist, points out signs of
soil nutrient deficiency in young wheat plants to Chris Mock and Tunisian
planner Badr Ben Amar.
122
MAY 1984
two months. There would be no more funds from the foundation.
Between themselves, Chris Mock and Charles Mann agreed to
continue without pay to help the Tunisians get their Apples up
and running and learn how to use the dozen or so programs sent
with them.
How To Grow a User Group. Meanwhile, Chris Mock had
made a discovery: There was an Apple installation in Kasserine,
in central Tunisia, four hours from the Ministry by car. A rural
development project was using the Apple to assist in a baseline
survey, doing complex statistical analysis tasks involving a large
number of variables. Two Cornell sociologists had invested about
two thousand hours in creating the software and setting up
technical training. The end results, however, resembled those of
the Northstar installation in Tunis.
' 'The reports of others suggest that the project functioned ef-
fectively during the times when the expatriate consultants were
there," Mann recalls, "but that not much happened when they
were gone. To the extent that the equipment was used, it was used
for such things as managing the payroll rather than the intended
analytical purpose."
The Rockefeller project did not have the time or the money for
software development or system training, but that may have
helped them avoid the fate of the other Tunisian computer
installations. Just as the tightness of funds had proved the inspira-
tion behind the Powersharing tapes, it now caused a minirestag-
ing in North Africa of the original American Apple phenome-
non— the first users of the machines finding out about each other
and spreading the word.
Mock arranged a field trip to Kasserine for the analysts in the
Office of Planning. "One of the ideas," says Mock, "was to set
up a sort of informal user group, at least so they could help each
other with repairs or lend each other equipment. You can't buy
equipment in-country; whatever you budgeted for to begin with,
that's what you were stuck with. And we had a very small budget.
"We had the technician in charge of the Kasserine machine
show us all that he knew. We spent a couple of days down there;
a really inexpensive way of getting hands-on experience. Once
they saw how to operate it physically, they were able to figure out
most of the rest. Some of them didn't speak English and there
were no materials in French at the time, but they were still able to
figure it out. It was like a game; it really did seduce them into sit-
ting down and doing a higher grade of work. There was this in-
credible, active, energetic interest in this— almost to the point of
competition— that I'd never seen before."
"Their original ambitions were quite limited," recalls Mann.
"They foresaw principally converting existing pencil and paper
spreadsheet work to mechanized processes. In fact, what has hap-
pened is that the computer has stretched their analytical ambitions.
"For example, as Ben Amar began to work with VisiCalc, it
occurred to him that he could use the row and column framework
to list all the [Sixth Five- Year] Plan's nonqualified objectives.
He has a column for each year within the period, in which he can
briefly summarize progress toward the objective of each row. On
this one sheet, he said, T can see what is happening with the
whole Plan. It's fantastic; with the computer you can do anything
. . . anything^"
Chris Mock's work was inspired partly by the activities of in-
ternational groups like CIMMYT, the international wheat and
corn agricultural research group in Mexico, which has developed
its own software for various analytical purposes.
' 'That was one of the reasons we thought it would be good to
have the Apples in the Ministry," says Mock. "They could share
by mail with the other organizations, sort of like an international
user group. If they could see that people who were in the same
professional area were using the machines for certain purposes,
they would do likewise. And they would have access to a base of
custom software."
The office workers, whose educational levels ranged from
high school to master's degrees, also quickly grasped the fact that
microcomputer literacy was a means of career advancement and a
fast ticket out of the traditionally structured Tunisian social
system, wherein one's career mobility is generally restricted to
the highest educational degree one is able to achieve.
Harvest Time. Charles Mann returned to Tunisia last Febru-
ary, some two years after the Ministry of Agriculture got its com-
puters, and was impressed all over again at what two little Apples
could do. They had expanded to ten, and the entire professional
staff at the Ministry planning office is now able to use them.
Everyone was producing better work, and more of it.
"Both morale and analytical self-confidence are extremely
high," he reports. "They now routinely undertake analytical
tasks they never would have attempted two years ago. In par-
ticular, the computers have facilitated their forward planning by
allowing them to project food consumption and supply estimates
through the year 2000. Having this model in a VisiCalc frame-
work has allowed them to engage in a dialogue with the minister
on the implications of changing various policies affecting the pro-
jections. In particular, the extreme grain production shortfall pro-
jected by the year 2000 has created a new sense of urgency to im-
prove the production system.
"Directly and indirectly, the computers have improved
significantly the analytical capacity of the Office of Planning in
ways that should help Tunisia produce more food, the project's
ultimate objective."
The Never-Ending Story. As Socrates commented two thou-
sand years ago, "Nobody is qualified to become a statesman who
is entirely ignorant of the problem of wheat."
The problem that the Apples in Tunisia are working on is per-
haps the basic problem we have— the one that must be solved first
if we are to go on to deal effectively with any other. There is
no greater economic burden, no deadlier destroyer of families
and cultures, and no more effective destabilizer of governments
than hunger.
The problem does not respond to emergency measures but to
those that address the problem at its root. Organizations like AID
and the World Bank are pressing African nations to effect the
policy changes and land reform necessary to turn their declining
food production around. To its credit, as the primary economic
power in the world, the United States has now mounted a five-
year "economic policy initiative" for Africa, but the administra-
tion is also contemplating budget cuts for the International Fund
for Agricultural Development, UNICEF, and the International
Development Association, traditional support organizations for
the poorest farmers and rural families.
The official response is never enough. It's the dedication and
resourcefulness of individuals that have always been the essential
ingredients, the things that have made the difference. When the
microcomputer came to be, it brought its gift of power to us like
Prometheus bringing the secret of fire. It is through the work of
such people as Charles Mann, Chris Mock, and Badr Ben Amar,
in the service of such a cause, that the best and most human prom-
ise of that power is now being realized. 31
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ELEPHANT NEVER
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124
mum
MAY 1984
-
APPLES
IN
CANADA
A Nation of Programmers
VI DOH OW(ER
The story goes that the original edible Mcintosh apple was
discovered in a lonely corner of a southern Ontario farm. The
gnarled little tree didn't look like much, but the fruit was bred to
be a perfect eating blend of sweet and tart. The tough Mcintosh
red loves the bracing northern climate and today flourishes coast
to coast in Canadian orchards.
The executives at Apple Canada would like the Mcintosh
story to become more than symbolic, and their dream may be
realized if current trends continue. Consider the following: Since
opening in 1980, Apple Canada hasn't had a year with a growth
rate under 80 percent. Last year, the company's sales to Ontario
school boards doubled.
Apple has always been strongest in the western provinces. In
the Rocky Mountain province of Alberta it sets the microcom-
puter standard for the entire school system. Last year, Apple
Canada exceeded both its parent company's sales rate and the
overall market rate.
The local branch may have the edge in percentages, but the
Canadian cultural and economic climate poses some problems for
establishing a healthy computer manufacturing industry here.
Canada is still a frontier in several senses. Socially and geo-
graphically, large tracts of Canadian territory remain undevel-
oped. Furthermore, Canadian industry is not quite ready for
robotics, and offices are still visibly shaken by the introduction of
white-collar automation. However, Canadians are forever chal-
lenged by their pioneer situation, and the challenge has produced
much excellence, notably in the realm of high technology.
Canadians are known to be technically sophisticated people.
Influenced by, yet recognizably distinct from, their neighbor
Americans, Canadians sometimes seem obsessed with self-
criticism. They relish debugging everything from the country's
constitution to the National Hockey League. Obviously then,
Canada is a potential "nation of programmers" and software ap-
plications specialists. And the Apple has taken root and bloomed
here, in applications ranging from medical research to farming in
the vast Canadian countryside.
Apple Computer's involvement in Canada has managed to
change the country in one small way. Canadians have come to
hate the second-fiddle industry image they've earned. The coun-
try's semifree, semiprotected market history has made it prime
branch plant territory. Companies coming into the country to set
up shop must consider manufacturing. Apple Canada came along
and said, "We'd like to break that mold. Canada can't support an
economical computer manufacturing industry. Marketing and
development of software are the way to go."
"In Canada we're a little more conservative and the equip-
ment tends to be more expensive," according to Kevin Ford, a
mechanical engineer and proprietor of Hydroford, a company
depending heavily on Apple. "On the other hand, labor rates are
higher and there is a different work ethic here. The net effect is
lower productivity."
Ironically, it's that lower productivity coupled with a relative-
ly small marketplace that seemed to indicate that Apple had found
an ideal manufacturing home in this country. However, as Apple
representative Bill Holtzman explains, the microcomputer busi-
ness is not your typical smokestack industry. If the new $20-mil-
lion Mac plant in Fremont, California, can ship half a million
Macintoshes with a work force of 270, the economics of building
another North American factory in Canada is questionable.
When Apple Canada was established, commitments were
made to the Canadian federal government's Foreign Investment
Review Agency (FIRA) to build microcomputers in Canada. But
David Killins, soon to be president of Apple Canada, and his
associates persuaded FIRA to consider the jobs created by
marketing and outside software development firms.
According to Killins, the smokestack mentality that focuses
on manufacturing is obsolete. Instead, Apple Canada is building a
fifty-five-thousand-square-foot support center housing offices
and warehouse facilities near Toronto. Occupancy of the
$5-million center in Markham— Toronto's Silicon Valley— is
scheduled for July.
The Turtle Always Wins. An impressive example of outside
software encouragement is Apple Canada's special relationship
with Logo Computer Systems (LCSI). In 1981 a group of Cana-
dians—entrepreneur Guy Montpetit, programmer Brian Silver-
man, and marketing expert Jim Baroux— met with Seymour Pap-
ert in a Montreal kitchen to form LCSI. Because the early Krell,
Terrapin, and Texas Instruments versions of the language didn't
satisfy the developers, they decided to produce a Logo that wasn't
just good but excellent. Their eyes were on the Apple as the best
available vehicle.
Apple Computer was equally impressed with the new Logo
enthusiasts, and an unprecedented contract was signed with the
company. Apple agreed to sell the program under its own label.
Apple Logo won the best microcomputer software of the year
award in 1981 from the Learning Periodicals publishing group of
the United States. Earlier this year the Federation of Quebec
Chambers of Commerce awarded its prestigious Mercure prize to
Montreal-based LCSI for exceptional performance in exporting
Quebec products outside Canada. When Apple Computer donated
microcomputers to 9,250 California schools in its Kids Can't
Wait program, the chosen programming language was LCSI's
Apple Logo.
The LCSI success story may be Canadian in origin, but it's in-
ternational in scope. Reflecting the bicultural nature of Canadian
life, LCSI produces Apple Logo in French as well as English.
The company also has more than sixty employees, carries on
research in Paris, France, as well as in Quebec, and has business
offices in New York and Tokyo.
Wizard in a Blizzard. "Canada has always been a leader in
computer communications," says Kevin Ford, an engineer who
saves hours of machine time and vital weeks of turnaround by
sending energy-use statistics to Waterloo University in one shot.
He calculates his own aggregations and metric conversions on his
Apple He, then sends only the results to Waterloo.
"The biggest practical applications for microcomputers will
appear when they start talking to mainframes. I don't mean sim-
ple terminal functions either. What needs to be designed are
specific programs to meet the needs and quirks of specific in-
dividuals. Then when he has something to send off or take from
the mainframe, the user can work it up on his VisiCalc, do his
calculations or his extractions, and discretely use the big machine
only when he must."
Even now, the mighty micro can do things a mainframe can't.
Ford once had a contract with a firm in Frobisher Bay, a remote
Arctic port where the initial cost of almost anything shipped is
dwarfed by the transportation rates. Understandably, in Fro-
bisher, inventory control is a priority.
When Ford was contacted, the firm was running its asset-
management system through a terminal link with the south. Un-
fortunately, bad weather shuts down microwave transmissions a
good portion of the time— a major fact of Arctic life. Ford found
that the versatile Apple readily accepted the mainframe inventory
program. Now, Frobisher only has to send out its orders.
Muscle for Keeping House. Because it was there first, Apple
has a lot of friends in the science and medical research com-
munities. Dr. G.W. Main wood of Ottawa University's medical
faculty is researching the energetics of muscles; keeping sets of
complex statistics is important to his work. His Apple helps him
trace energy sources, limits to muscle capacity, factors in the
maintenance of muscle power, and so on. This is what he ex-
pected from the Apple.
A well-walked trail cuts around a thicket of birch trees in Canada. France's
colonization of the country wasn't very successful, but French explorers
managed to penetrate beyond the Great Lakes to the western prairies by
the end of the seventeenth century.
What came with it as an unexpected surprise was the bonus of
the Apple's versatility. Mainwood's microcomputer has become
an all-around laboratory housekeeper, tracing supplies, accounts,
and schedules. The Apple gives him access to experimental litera-
ture through international databases. Word processing and file
organizing programs help him write papers for journals and tests
for his students.
Mainwood's Apple also frees him for research into the critical
questions of muscle fatigue. His research may help uncover the
causes of and help treat muscular dystrophy. As a solid scientific
tool and a general-purpose computer, Mainwood believes the Ap-
ple is the best for the money.
The Apple Pulls the Plow. As a terminal emulator, the Apple
gives farmers access to crucial market data on various videotex
A trio of Morgan horses stretch their legs on a Morgan horse farm. Apples are very popular with Canadian farmers and ranchers. Software is plentiful
and service is nearby.
126
MAY 1984
Zigzagging highway takes travelers up into the northern Rocky Mountains
of British Columbia. The highest point in Canada is Mount Logan (19,850
feet), in the neighboring province of Yukon.
systems. Canadian farmers have to stay on top of the facts in or-
der to stay in business because land, machinery, and capital are
available only at premium rates. The farmgate (price asked for
goods at the farm site) price on crops and livestock can vary
gready, so it comes as no surprise that at every major Canadian
farm show there is a computer display.
Canadian farmers, used to buying tractors and milking ma-
chines, find it hard to think of buying a microcomputer in the
same way. As they begin to see what software can do for a farm's
productivity, their way of thinking begins to change.
"The Apple is a thousand dollars cheaper than any other
system with suitable farm software. It's versatile and has pio-
neered dozens of applications, with hundreds of useful programs
in the public domain," says Betty Vandenbosch, who, along with
her husband Stan, owns a cattle farm near Winchester in eastern
Ontario. Stan is also chairman of the Agracomp Computer User
Group.
"There's always an available dealer, and the home applica-
tions are entertaining and useful," she adds. She sells and serv-
ices Apple products herself. "The software that attracts farmers
most are accounting packages and enterprise analysis disks." In
their operation, the Vandenbosches keep track of fertilizer ap-
plications, crop rotations, yields, and soil tests. "I know a hog
farmer who monitors his two hundred and fifty sows, their
breeding data, litter size, and health profiles with an Apple and
compatible software."
Garage In, Garage Out. Gary Little, a Vancouver lawyer,
represents the more typical Canadian user. Little is "the kind of
home user who brings his micro in through the garage," as Bill
Holtzman of Apple Canada puts it.
His Apple lie edits text, acts as a teletypewriter, and accesses
legal databases. Little expects it soon to handle his accounting
functions. He also uses the machine for hobby programming and
as a home security monitor. Belonging to several user groups, in-
cluding Apple BC Computer Society and the Vancouver PC
Users Group, Little sees membership as an opportunity to meet
interesting people and to find answers to puzzling questions.
Well, maybe Little isn't so typical after all. He's written a
book titled Inside the Apple lie, to be published this year by
Brady, and helps organize the annual Pacific Coast Computer Fair.
Scientists at the National Research Council of Canada may ac-
tually be more typical Apple users than Little, if typical for the
Apple means innovative. For example, their electrical engineer-
ing group has an Apple linked with a microscope to provide im-
age analysis with the help of a digitizing pad (soon to be replaced
with a Micron Eye).
Similarly, Betty Dion of the Canadian Hearing Society reports
of new opportunities for the deaf who, thanks to Apple technol-
ogy, can use the telephone for the first time.
Can't Stop the Micro. Canadian educators viewed the Apple
with enthusiasm when it first appeared. The excitement has since
deepened to a commitment in some cases and cooled off in others.
Two local issues have determined the direction in which Cana-
dian computer education leans: focus and compatibility.
Focus means the way a classroom computer is used. If the
educational aim of the province, school board, school, or teacher
is computer literacy, then any computer will do. Their emphasis
is on electronic data processing history, binary language, and
simple programming. This approach is favored by the Hamilton,
Ontario, Board of Education. In Hamilton, Apples are disappear-
ing, being replaced by Commodores.
Over at the Carleton Board of Education in Ottawa, things are
different. Carleton is known as a pro- Apple school board. "The
kind of programming we can run on the Apple presents a huge va-
riety of options," says Terry Chalmers, a school-board consult-
ant in Ottawa. "The educational material is superior in presenta-
tion on Apple software. We say, let the student use the computer.
He will acquire the literacy he needs."
Even on a pro- Apple school board like Carleton' s, there's a
long way to go. Current pupil-to-machine ratios offer the student
an allotment of nine minutes a week. The microcomputer budget
was slashed in half this year. However, an enthusiastic teacher
who wants to do something valuable has access to pilot develop-
ment money. Schools in the district also run fund-raising drives
to purchase more hardware and software.
Software development, not manufacturing, is what makes
the Apple tick in Canada. Apple Canada is aware of this and, just
as at Apple in Cupertino, encourages third-party software
development.
This attitude has made all the difference. As Karl Parks, a
software dealer, explains, "We carry more than twenty-two hun-
dred Apple titles in our software catalog. Apple software is imag-
inative, intriguing, and full of content. Loading is always straight-
forward and operation doesn't intrude on your concentration.
"I think that's what Canadians want from their microcom-
puters."
Apple Canada is betting that it is. ^
The word is out on
word processors.
Format-II ranked number
We've always thought of Format-II
as the finest, easiest to use word
processor for Apple® II + , lie and
Franklin® computers. We're pleased
that Peelings II magazine agrees.
They judged Format-II best out of 18
leading word processors. Here's why:
Format-II makes editing easy.
There's our unique editing process:
simple, mnemonic commands log-
ically relate to the task you want to
perform. To center text, you press
0. To delete, 0. To justify EL
And since what you see on
the monitor is exactly what will
print out, editing and formatting is
always a breeze.
The Peelings II reviewer said,
"Format-II is one of the few word
processors that is so comfortable
and predictable, I would con-
sider it as an addition to my small
library of personal software. "
Peelings II Magazine Rating
FORMAT-II
1
owJtibJBiJV VVJcvl 1 JBirl 11
PIE WRITER™
3
WRITE AWAY™
4
LETTER PERFECT 5™
5
WORDSTAR™
6
MEGAWRITER ™
7
APPLE WRITER II™
8
PERFECT WRITER™
9
CORRESPONDENT ™
10
SPELLBINDER™
11
MAGIC WINDOW II™
12
ZARDAX™
13
SUPERTEXT 40/80™
14
GUTENBERG ™
15
WORD HANDLER™
16
SELECT™
17
SANDY™
18
Reviewed by John Martellaio, September 1983,
based on Peelings II rating system for performance
and performance to price ratio.
w— reviewer sum it u
In the words of the Peelings II
reviewer: "This is the best program I
have seen for people who do a lot of
work with mailing lists, form letters
and short correspondence. "
An easy to follow manual.
Essential to any good program is a
manual that's clear and under-
standable. The Peelings II reviewer
describes the Format II manual.
"All in all, it is one of the best word
processor manuals I have seen.
The latest documentation is a
model of clarity and organization. "
Put it all together. Then add
features such as support of hard
disk drives and a standard DOS
text file format compatible with
spellers and communications pro-
grams, and it's not hard to see why
Format-II has earned the number
one rating.
The words of the Peelings II
J cannot think of another word pro-
cessor that would be better overall for business use. "
Thanks Peelings II. We couldn't have said it better
ourselves.
For a reprint of the full review or to order Format-II,
fill out coupon and send it to: Kensington Microware, Ltd.
251 Park Avenue South, NYC, NY 10010 or call us at (212) 475-5200.
Tlx: 467383 KML NY Or visit your local Apple dealer.
Please send (indicate quantity):
Free reprint(s) of Peelings n review
Format-II Word Processing Program(s) $150 each. Total $_
Apple II + owners require keyboard mod $5 each. Total $_
On purchases add $2.50 shipping and handling
Format-II supports all printers.
Unlike other word processors, Format-II is compatible with
every printer that works with the Apple, from the
simplest dot matrix printer to the most advanced letter
quality printer.
A built in mailing list at no extra cost!
Actually a database system resembling an index card file.
A SORTING program will arrange the mailing list alpha-
betically or numerically. Powerful LOGIC commands
merge specific entries into form letters and documents.
New York State residents add applicable sales tax.
□ Check enclosed □ Visa □ Mastercard
Total order $_
Card No.
Expires
Name on Card
Name
Address (UPS delivery)
City
Kensington Microware, Ltd.
251 Park Avenue South
New York, NY 10010
State
Zip
Phone
>J KENSINGTON
I MICROWARE
© 1983 Kensington Microware Ltd.
Format-II is a registered trademark of Kensington Microware Ltd
Peelings II is a registered trademark of Peelings II , Inc
Format-II requires 64 K and an 30 column card.
THE GRAPHIC SOLUTION
Solve your toughest communication problems with the
Graphic Solution™, a sophisticated, new graphics package
from Accent Software.
With precise, multi-speed
ANIMATION create captivating sales
presentations and product demon-
strations that will both intrigue and
inform your clients and customers.
Watch their reactions; you'll see your
messages getting through.
Develop educational materials
and training aids that MIX TEXT AND GRAPHICS on
the screen, breathing new life into abstract, hard-to-grasp
concepts. Mix programs too.
Images can be displayed on back-
grounds loaded from any of your
other programs. Construct custom
TYPEFACES AND TYPESIZES to
balance the visual elements.
Tired of run-of-the-mill business
graphics? Change standard charts
and graphs into colorful THREE DIMENSIONAL
PERSPECTIVES. Add text and animate the data to show the
COmPRESSIO
PDUER
EXHRU5T
IHTERMM. COHBUST10« EHG1KE
relative rates of change for your most important information.
Like cash flow projections. Or revenue estimates.
Plot flowcharts, time and motion
studies, industrial process flows with
COLOR-CODED ELEMENTS high-
lighting critical paths. Animate the
sequences to show how flows actually
progress.
Work with live action? Prepare
film and videotape storyboards using
the unique FRAME -BY-FRAME graphic sequencer that
lets you create and animate a video story before shooting.
Whatever your graphic communication demands— in the
business world, the arts, industry,
education— The Graphic Solution™
at $149. 95 has the answer. Take a
hard look at The Graphic Solution.
You'll like what you see.
The Graphic Solution requires a
64K Apple II with ROM Applesoft
and DOS 3.3.
See your local dealer or
send $10.00 for a demonstration diskette to:
ACCENT SOFTWARE, INC.
4546 El Camino Real, Los Altos, CA 94022 (415) 949-271 1
Apple is a registered trademark of Apple Computer, Inc.
Unless otherwise noted, all products can be assumed to run on either Apple II,
II Plus, or He with 48K, Applesoft in ROM, and one disk drive. The requirement
for Applesoft in ROM can be met by Applesoft in a language card. Many Apple II
programs will run on the Apple III in the emulation mode.
If the cryptic initials at the ends of reviews don 't fit the staff listed on page 4,
then they refer to guest reviewers. This month, they are Cary Hara, Joel Harrod,
Kevin J. Linden, and Willard Phillips.
TURBO PASCAL. When you hear that this CP/M Pascal compiler sells for
fifty bucks, you might be pretty skeptical. Sure it's cheap; it's probably
a watered-down where's-the-beef compiler with more bugs in it than a
tropical forest. Maybe some dumb fool who doesn't want to dish out
$300 or more for a "real" compiler would spend money on it, but that's
about it. Wrong.
Not only is Turbo Pascal a complete standard Pascal, it's an im-
proved, beefed-up version with features that'll have Pascal programmers
dancing in the streets. Here are a few.
Strings have been added as a data type and can be manipulated easily
by several handy built-in string functions and procedures. The functions
and procedures are basically the same as those in UCSD Pascal, plus the
procedure val for converting strings to numbers (reals or integers).
Typed constants are new and extremely useful. They are defined just
like untyped constants, but the type of the constant must be included
along with its value. Since typed constants are essentially predefined
variables, they may be used exactly the same as an unassignable variable
of the same type. However, they can't be used to define other constants
or types, because typed constants are considered variables. Which brings
to mind the free format of the var, const, and type declarations. Declara-
tions can be in any order or mixed with each other without any ill effects.
Apart from additions, the only significant difference from standard or
UCSD Pascal is the absence of the put and get functions; to compensate,
the read and write statements have been changed to handle all types of
files instead of just text files. Essentially anything you can do with stan-
dard Pascal you can do with Turbo Pascal and then some.
Describing Turbo Pascal as fast doesn't do it justice. Its compilations
are lightning-fast; no more waiting for those dots to scroll across the
screen. The compiler gives you the choice of compiling code into memo-
ry, into executable COM files (with the same name as the source code
file except with a .COM tacked on), or into CHN files, which are smaller
than the COM files, but lack the Pascal library and must be activated
through the chain command from another Turbo Pascal program.
Of the three options, compiling to memory is by far the fastest,
w & msmtt
BASIC BUILDING BLOCKS™ lets us interact
with our computer and learn at our
own pace. Dad says it's so easy to use,
it even eliminates the need for him to
read the manual. You should see all the
programs Mom has written by herself.
I like it because it really gets into the
fun of the computer. . .fast. BASIC
BUILDING BLOCKS is like having personal
computer experts in our house/'
My
Mom
AN INTERACTIVE BASIC TUTORIAL
RUA .OH1CSW110W.TOOL.-
> A unique, challenging and enter-
taining introduction to BASIC
programming.
• Consumer testing shows that
9 out of 10 people didn't
even need the manual.
- BASIC commands fully demon-
strated, including disk access,
sound and graphics.
• Over 60 sample programs exe-
cuting so you can see how BASIC
commands work, learn program
structure and flow of control.
« innovative program design for
freedom of movement any-
where in the tutorial This lets
\ «ou test sample programs at
your own pace until you under-
stand how they work.
• Actually encourages you to write
anci test your own programs.
> Design usefui programs, trace
their fiow and detect pro-
gramming errors.
soon for IBM PC, XT and PCjr.
I" Sof tware that makes your
I -hometomputer worth having,
• 06080- <203) 222-1000
MAY 1984
131
because it doesn't require as much disk access (none if the source code is
already in memory); but either of the other two options compiles so
quickly that it'll make you wonder whether the program compiled cor-
recdy (don't worry, it really did).
Here's one for Ripley: Turbo Pascal even includes a resident text
editor that contains features such as block moves, search, replace, and
block deletions. Its design and commands are similar to those of Word-
Star, if the editing keys throw you off, you can redefine them to suit your
taste. Some WordStar functions have also been removed to conserve
space, but what's left is more than powerful enough to write programs. If
you decide to use some other CP/M text editor, the compiler will work
just fine with the file it creates, but it's much simpler to use Turbo
Pascal's editor, since it forms an integrated package with the compiler
and system's menu.
Rivaling Turbo's compilation speed is its execution speed. Again
there's no comparison to Apple Pascal. If a run-time error occurs during
execution, and your source code is still in memory, Turbo Pascal
automatically enters the editor, marks where the error occurred, and
displays the run-time error code.
It doesn't really make much sense. A complete Pascal system that in-
cludes an editor and compiler that reside completely in memory and re-
quire no disk swapping and that compile and execute extremely fast, all
for a ridiculously low price. The manual is excellent as a reference man-
ual and clearly describes all the differences between Turbo Pascal and
standard Pascal. A licensing fee for programs created with Turbo Pascal
has been waived, so there are no hidden costs to jump out on you.
If you don't have CP/M, Turbo Pascal is reason enough to buy it.
Borland International has created an extremely high-quality product at a
more than reasonable price. (II
Turbo Pascal, Borland International (4807 Scotts Valley Drive, Scotts Valley, CA
95066; 408-438-8400). Requires CP/M. $49.95.
THE HEIST. By Mike Livesay and Mike Mooney. The folks who brought
Miner 2049er to the Apple are at it again. It would be unfair to ask any
encore to measure up to an original like Miner, as no sequel can carry the
excitement and surprise value inherent in a hit the first time around. No
Marx Brothers fan would rank A Day at the Races with A Night at the
Opera, but most would acknowledge its superiority to nine-tenths of the
competition (say, Olsen and Johnson and the Three Stooges). So it is
with The Heist. And just as the real world seemed to overwhelm the
anarchy of the Marxes in time, the surreal cartoon slapstick of Miner has
here given way to the mundane walls and floors of an art museum, from
which a perfectly proportioned humanoid must steal all the artworks.
Mind you, this is no art museum you're ever likely to visit of a Sun-
day. Robot drones patrol sectors; booby traps appear out of the floor or
plummet from the ceiling. There's a real trick to jumping over the
alarms, and it's not likely you'll make it every time. Much coordination
and more patience is what the game requires, and you'll probably forget
the ostensible "goal" early on and just try to get through the forty-eight
rooms on level one, never mind being allowed to move up to the next
two levels.
The influence of Miner is evident throughout the game, which is full
of moving ledges, lifts, escalators, and elevators. Nice touches like the
do-it-yourself joystick calibrating menu are back.
If only . . . there were more to it. The near-infinite combinations of
floors/levels/screens do not obscure the fact that this is a one-trick game:
knowing how to jump and where. Miner's real variety was not in its
famous ten screens but in the diversity of skills required— Pac-Man and
Donkey Kong were prerequisites; timing was all; everything was inter-
twined. With The Heist, you can get a new screen every five seconds, but
there isn't a heck of a lot to do in most of them.
Nevertheless, what's there is more challenging, better executed, and
more pleasing to the eye than is the case with nine-tenths of the competi-
tion. Don't expect Miner, and your pleasure should be major. AC
The Heist, by Mike Livesay and Mike Mooney, Micro Lab (2699 Skokie Valley
Road, Highland Park, IL 60035; 312-433-7550). Joystick required. $40.
MASTER DIACHOSTKS II & 11+ and MASTER DIACHOSTKS HE. By Dr.
Nicholas A. Romano. Master Diagnostics takes an otherwise boring
task, adds a touch of panache, and makes it rather interesting. The utility
iSSffl) Un'lPrint Built for Apple owners
that demand quality and features on a budget!
When you're trying to find the right parallel interface for your printer, look to Videx to bring you
the best in quality and features. At only $89.00 suggested retail, the UniPrint is packed with
features:
• Full Basic, Pascal , ProDOS, and CP/M compatibility.
• Text and High Resolution Graphics transfers.
• Logo graphics transfers!
• Color graphics transfers to the Dataproducts (IDS) Prism.
• Centronics— Compatible Cable included.
• Comprehensive 48 page manual includes easy installation
and operating instructions, and configurations for over 25
different printers.
Parallel Printer Interface
Suggested Retail Price
$89.00
UniPrint ... A simple solution to your printer interfacing needs!
UniPrint is easy to install and use. And Videx' customer support lets you
buy UniPrint with confidence! We've taken the guessing out of shopping for
a full featured card.
UniPrint is a trademark of Videx, Inc.
Apple and ProDOS are trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc.
CP/M is a trademark of Digital Research, Inc.
Prism is a trademark of Dataproducts, Inc.
Videx
1105 N.E. Circle Blvd. • Corvallis
503-758-0521
OR • 97330
Apple
II
CP/M
SPECTRUM
Professional Software Products
MATHEMATICS SERIES
The Series Includes These 4 Programs:
STATISTICAL ANALYSIS I: This menu driven program
performs LINEAR REGRESSION analysis, deter-
mines the mean, standard deviation and plots the
frequency distribution of user-supplied data sets.
NUMERICAL ANALYSIS: HI-RES 2-Dimensional plot of
any function. Automatic scaling. At your option,
the program will plot the function, plot the
INTEGRAL, plot the DERIVATIVE, determine the
ROOTS, MAXIMA, MINIMA and INTEGRAL VALUE.
MATRIX: A general purpose, menu driven program
for determining the INVERSE and DETERMINANT of
any matrix, as well as the SOLUTION to any set of
SIMULTANEOUS LINEAR EQUATIONS.
3-D SURFACE PLOTTER: Explore the ELEGANCE and
BEAUTY of MATHEMATICS by creating HI-RES
PLOTS of 3-dimensional surfaces from any 3-
variable equations. Hidden line or transparent
plotting.
For APPLE II (48K) and IBM PC (64K) $50.00
BUSINESS SOFTWARE SERIES
Both Programs $250.00
A user-friendly yet comprehensive double-entry
accounting system employing screen-oriented
data input forms, extensive error-trapping, data
validation and special routines for high speed
operation. The series includes these two modules:
GENERAL LEDGER: A complete accounting system
with these features:
• Up to 500 accounts and 500 transactions per
month.
• Interactive on-screen transaction journal.
• Produces these reports:
Transactions Journal
Account Ledgers
Income Statement
For APPLE II and IBM PC $150.00
ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE
Balance Sheet
Account Listings
A flexible system with these features
• Up to 500 accounts and up to 500 invoices per
diskette.
• Prints invoices, customer statements &
address labels.
• Interfaces to General Ledger.
• Interactive screen-based invoice work sheet.
• Produces these reports
Aged Receivables
Sales Analysis
Account Listings
Customer Balances
For APPLE II and IBM PC .... (2 DRIVES) .. $150.00
MICRO-LOGIC
An interactive graphics program for designing and
simulating digital logic systems. Using the built-in
graphics module, the user creates a logic diagram
consisting of AND, OR, NAND, NOR, EX-OR, D, T, JK
FLIP FLOP and powerful 16pin user-defined MACRO
functions. A typical page of a logic diagram looks
like this:
The system provides on-screen editors for
NETWORKS/MACROS DATA CHANNELS, CLOCK
WAVEFORMS and GATES. GATE attributes include
DELAY, TRUTH TABLE, NAME and I/O clocking.
The system is available for Apple II and IBM PC
computers. A non-graphics version is available for
CP/M 2.2 It uses the network editor to create
netlists and text printer plots to display simulation
results. All versions require 2- 5 1/4" disk drives.
For APPLE II, IBM PC (192K) and CP/M (70K) $450.00
MANUAL & DEMO DISKETTE $50 00
PERSONAL FINANCE MASTER
The premier personal and small business financial
system. Covering all types of accounts including
check registers, savings, money market, loan,
credit card and other asset or liability accounts, the
system has these features:
Handles 25 Asset/Liability Accounts
Monthly Transaction Reports
Budgets Income & Expense
Reconciles to Bank Statements
Prints Checks & Mailing Labels
Automatic Year-End Rollover
Prepares a Net Worth Reports
Searches for Transactions
Handles Split Transactions
User-Friendly Data Entry Forms
Fast Machine Language Routines
Extensive Error Trapping
HI-RES Expense/Income Plots
For APPLE II and IBM PC $75.00
MICRO-CAP
Microcomputer Circuit Analysis Program
Tired of trial & error circuit design? Analyze and
debug your designs before you build them. With
MICRO-CAP you simply sketch your circuit diagram
on the CRT screen and run an AC, DC orTRANSIENT
ANALYSIS. Your circuit may consist of RESISTORS,
CAPACITORS, INDUCTORS, DIODES, BATTERIES,
BIPOLAR or MOS TRANSISTORS, OPAMPS TRANS-
FORMERS, and SINSUSOIDAL or USER-DEFINED
TIME DEPENDENT VOLTAGE SOURCES. MICRO-CAP
can analyze any such network containing up to 40
separate nodes. Includes a user controlled MACRO
library for modelling complex components such as
OPAMPS and Transistors.
For APPLE II and IBM PC computers. A non-graphics
version using an on-screen editor to enter networks
and text printer plots to display simulation results
is available for CP/M (2.2- 5 1/4" SSSD) systems
Requires 2 disk drives.
For APPLE II, IBM PC (192K) and CP/M (70K) $475.00
MANUAL and DEMO DISKETTE $50.
ORDERING INSTRUCTIONS: All programs are supplied
on disk and run on Apple II (64K) or IBM PC (128K)
with a single disk drive unless otherwise noted.
Detailed instructions included. Orders are shipped
within 5 days. Card users include card number. Add
$2.50 postage and handling with each order.
California residents add 6 1/2% sales tax. Foreign
orders add $5.00 postage and handling per product.
SPECTRUM
SOFTWARE
690 W. Fremont Ave., Suite D
Sunnyvale, CA 94087
FOR PHONE ORDERS:
(408) 738-4387
DEALER INQUIRIES INVITED.
MAY 1984
mum
133
also instructs. If the doctor tells you that he's going to remove one of
your kidneys, you have a right to know why, and if you're prudent you'll
demand to be told how to prevent the loss of the second one. Within its
area of expertise (the Apple's hardware), Master Diagnostics instructs
without duplicating the Apple Reference Manual.
At each test point during the diagnosis there's an illustration of what
the monitor will show if a component fails or if it passes. Bad ROMs are
named, and bad RAM chips are identified by their row and column on
the motherboard. There's even a glossary of terms for those who don't
speak computerese.
In addition to ROMs and RAMs, the program tests ROM cards, par-
allel cards, the Hayes Micromodem II, video monitor, speaker, paddles,
disk drive speed and head alignment, and the drive's write-protect
switch.
In addition, there's an instruction set on disk head cleaning, IC pin in-
spection and cleaning, and housing and monitor screen cleaning. If
you're trying to find that elusive intermittent bug that appears and disap-
pears without leaving a clue, Master Diagnostics will run an automatic
test procedure for one to twelve hours, cycling and recycling RAM chips
until the little pest falls out.
In cases where it's possible to repair or replace a bad part, clear in-
structions are given, and the don'ts are explained as explicitly as the dos.
There's a solid feel to this utility; you'll find yourself using it with a
sense of security, and when you're finished you feel that it was worth the
price, even if no problems were discovered. WP
Master Diagnostics II & 11+ and Master Diagnostics He, by Dr. Nicholas A.
Romano, Nikrom Technical Products (25 Prospect Street, Leominster, MA
01453; 617-537-9970). $55.
SOFTERM 2. Beyond the usual phone lists, macros, and file transfer abil-
ities, communications programs usually include some form of terminal
emulation — making the Apple function like a mainframe terminal. In
most cases it's a standard TTY device or a popular terminal such as the
DEC VT100, which is usually sufficient. However, to emulate another
specific terminal, Softerm 2 is a package to consider seriously.
It's a communications package that provides an extensive list of ter-
minal emulations, among which are ADDS Regent Models 20, 25, 40,
60, and Viewpoint; DEC Models VT52, VT100, and D200; Hazeltine
Models 1400/1410, 1500, and 1520; Honeywell VIP7205, VIP7801,
and VIP7803; H-P 2622A; IBM 3101-1X and 3101-2X; LSI ADM-3A
and ADM-5; Televideo 910, 925, and 950. The list is growing, and
emulations are continually updated and revised as necessary.
A keyboard enhancer is included to handle various keyboard defini-
tions of the emulated terminals. It consists of a board that's inserted into
an open slot inside the Apple, and a three-key keypad connected to it.
The keys function as shift keys and, when used with the main keyboard,
allow you to "fake" the function keys supported by Softerm 2. Several
of the program commands themselves also use the keypad.
Most of the emulations work satisfactorily; however, for the H-P
2622A some of the terminal's capabilities aren't included. The line-
drawing character set is replaced with blanks, some of the terminal con-
trol functions are ignored, and there's only one page of memory. Half-
bright intensity and underlining are employed, but their display depends
on which eighty-column board is being used. The function keys and ter-
minal status display are emulated but aren't continually shown on the
screen; instead, they're displayed only after pushing one of the keypad
combinations, and when they're displayed they cover the bottom two
lines of the normal display. The emulation is not totally comprehen-
sive, but it's very functional. The Televideo 910 and Hazeltine 1500
aren't nearly as smart as the 2622A, but their emulations are much more
complete.
Softerm 2 uses three types of protocol for file transfer — character,
CP/M xmodem, and the Softerm Softrans. Character protocol is the stan-
dard ASCII text file mode of file transfer; xmodem is an implementation
of the CP/M User's Group standard protocol, and Softrans is Softerm's
own protocol written in Fortran 77. Softrans operates in block mode and
features error recovery, automatic data encoding and decoding, and data
compression. To use Softrans, you must have it on both the receiving and
sending computers. Softrans is included on the Softerm disks and can be
transferred to the host computer using the character protocol. At present,
however, only a version for the Data General MV/6000 running the
AOS/VS operating system is included with the package. Versions for the
H-P, Tandem, and Prime are due soon. In the meantime, the user is
responsible for implementing the protocol on the host. The source code
for all of the necessary modules is included along with explanations of
how to implement it.
Files can be transferred among DOS, CP/M, and Pascal disk for-
mats, and they can be edited during transfer to match the data format of
the host computer. With the use of the macro command capability, the
whole file transfer process can be fully automated from log-on to log-off,
including dialing up the host computer with the built-in phone book.
About service: There's lots of it. A twenty-four-hour modem line
provides information on any problems users might have experienced
with the package, solutions to problems, revisions and patches to the
original package that can be downloaded to the user's disk and applied to
the program with a utility provided, and general news of interest.
Because terminal emulations are constantly being added and en-
hanced, it seems like the manual will always be somewhat out of date.
New emulations are included in the software but aren't mentioned in the
manual. However, documentation for new additions is included on
the disk.
Softerm 2 is a very good, highly professional package that can meet
the communications needs of many users, especially those wanting to
make their Apples look like other terminals to host minis or mainframes.
Definitely worth the price. IWH
Softerm 2, Softronics (3639 New Getwell Road, Suite 10, Memphis, TN 38118;
901-638-6850). $195.
PERSONAL TAX PLAIMER. That's tax planner, not tax preparer. The dif-
ference is that this program helps answer what-if tax questions as op-
posed to calculating amounts for tax forms.
Though we've survived through April 15, 1984, it's not too late to
start getting ready for next year. Personal Tax Planner is a program for
planning strategies that will minimize the taxes you'll pay when Uncle
Sam holds out his hand.
Two modes of operation are included. One helps you evaluate up to
five alternatives that could affect your taxes, and another helps you make
IN STACKS OF ARTICLES ?
CONSIDER HIRING A
LIBRARIAN FOR ONLY
p]
Quick Search Librarian (QSL) makes it easy to enter and edit
your journal references, search for articles, and print or sort a
list of articles using the 48K APPLE* II + computer. Important
QSL features include:
• Two keystrokes select any one of 255 keywords or any one
of 255 journal titles.
• Four lines available for listing authors, title and/or comments.
• Powerful data base screen editing, copying and merging
features.
• Average search speed is 50 articles/second with multiple cri-
teria; average sorting speed is 40 articles/second when sort-
ing on 3 fields.
• Typically, 1000 articles can be stored on a single disk.
• Includes sample data base and tutorial for Scientific American.
1981.
VISA or Mastercard orders accepted. QSL manual available sep-
arately for $5. (Price of manual deductible later with purchase
of QSL software.) Add $1.50 for shipments made in U.S.A.
• Trademark of Apple Computer. Inc.
-fYl- INTERACTIVE MICROWARE, INC.
H n I P.O. Box 771, Dept. 2
■ UJ ■ State College, PA 1 6801 , (81 4) 238-8294
134
mnin
MAY 1984
SWAPPER
STOPPER
$26.95
Automatic Game Port Expander
for Apple II+ or lie
The new Swapper Stopper plugs inside your Apple,
and provides automatic switching between joystick
and paddles. Simply pick up either joystick or paddles,
and Swapper Stopper automatically passes control to
that device.
Swapper Stopper requires no unsightly externally
mounted cables or switches, and installs in seconds.
Swapper Stopper is available from stock. Specify
version (II+ or Me).
Dealer inquiries invited.
A B Computers
252 Bethlehem Pike
Colmar, PA 18915
215-822-7727
Guaranteed Error-Free Performance
with Scotch® Diskettes by 3M
SPECIAL
,00
per box of 1 0
$19.00
for 5 boxes
3M double density diskettes with reinforced hub
ring. Packed in 3M two piece storage box. Add
$1 .50 for plastic library case with 1 0 diskettes.
Larger quantity prices available.
Add $1 .50 per order for continental U.S. UPS surface shipping.
projections of taxes based on potential transactions for up to five years.
The program uses a spreadsheet format similar to Multiplan and the
various calc programs, so it's easy to create alternatives for comparison
by replicating information with just a few keystrokes. The spreadsheet
capabilities of the projection mode are especially powerful. For exam-
ple, married couples can enter separate base-year salaries, a few simple
codes, and the assumed percentage growth rate (or one salary can in-
crease by a percent rate while the other increases by a flat rate), and each
spouse's appropriate salary will automatically appear for each suc-
ceeding year.
Personal Tax Planner performs several complicated tax calculations,
among them income averaging, the alternative minimum tax, two-earner
married couple deduction, and capital gain deduction.
Unfortunately, screens don't have enough lines for input with appro-
priate prompts. For example, instead of having its own line, the prior
year's state tax refunds must be entered as "other income," while real
estate taxes, personal property taxes, and sales taxes must be manually
added and entered as "other taxes." Separate lines for each would be
helpful, as they would prompt you not to forget certain items. Also,
more descriptive prompts would be helpful when reviewing the tax
plan later.
Entering data can be tricky because the program doesn't automatical-
ly calculate the deduction for two-earner married couples. Instead, it's
necessary to calculate (with paper and pencil, adding machine, or
calculator, but not the program) the deduction and then enter the proper
amount of qualifying earned income for each person.
You don't need to know a lot about computers to use this program ef-
ficiently, but it helps to know something about federal income tax law.
The value of the program increases with your knowledge of federal taxa-
tion, as you can better understand what information is required.
Playing what-if games with taxes helps to avoid year-end surprises,
such as underpayment penalties and large balances due to the Internal
Revenue Service. Ill
Personal Tax Planner, Aardvark/McGraw-Hill (783 North Water Street,
Milwaukee, WI 53202; 414-289-9988). $99.
BUC OFF! By Carl Byington. When all typing of code and removing of
syntax errors is done, rare is the Pascal program that works properly.
Bug Off! takes some of the drudgery and wasted time out of debugg-
ing Apple Pascal programs by eliminating much of the unnecessary com-
piling and source code editing. Once Bug Off! is installed into your pro-
gram as an intrinsic unit (one or two lines in your source code) no other
editing of the source code is necessary except for the changes needed to
fix the bugs in the program. Once the program's completely debugged,
removing Bug Off! from the source code eliminates the evidence of any
kind of debugging.
Running a program with Bug Off! installed puts you immediately into
a debugging command mode. If you want to ignore debugging complete-
ly, you may execute the program as if Bug Off! were not even there. You
may, however, set break points in the program that, when executed, will
return you to the debugging command mode, where you may then review
or alter your program's variables. If everything looks hunky-dory, you
can continue execution or define more break points.
Don't worry if you defined a break point and want to get rid of it; you
can easily delete it or simply skip over it. Break points are fantastic,
allowing you to see variables or change their values without having to
reedit or recompile the source code. Execution can then continue as if
nothing had been altered. Once you have located the problem, you can
step through it one statement at a time, trace through it in large statement
blocks, or even decide to exit the program completely and fix it. If you
want to know how the program arrived at its current location, Bug Off!
can easily display the return path (the procedures that called it). Most of
these features would be either impossible or a hassle to do the old-
fashioned way.
This is only a small subset of the commands and features that make
Bug Off! easy to use yet extremely powerful. Don't expect to implement
Bug Off! and immediately start finding all those bugs, though. Like lear-
ning to use most word processors, it takes a bit of time to discover how
to get the most out of the commands, but patience will pay off.
One of the lowlights of Bug Off! is its manual. It's hard to understand
and lacks the polish and careful detail given to the program. The only
other irritation is the method of copy protection. Every time you execute
A B Computers
215-822-7727
ANNOUNCING
in the World.
Spellcaster is a new computer language that is easier to learn than
LOGO or BASIC. With Spellcaster you can learn to program your own
fast-action video games, intricate art designs, interactive courseware,
and many other applications using graphics, color, movement or sound.
What makes Spellcaster so easy to learn?
• Spellcaster is the simplest language on the market. Young children
use it to draw all over the screen. As they grow, the tutorial entices
them into true programming.
• Everything a Spellcaster program does leaves marks on the screen.
You watch all its inner workings in motion.
• Spellcaster's on-screen tutorial makes your computer teach you pro-
gramming. It even teaches you how to program your own video games.
• Debugging a Spellcaster program is easy, because you can stop it,
make it back up to the mistake (while you watch), change it, and let it
run forward again.
• Spellcaster's manual, The Book of Spells, is light-spirited, color-coded
and loaded with examples.
For $39.95 you get
The Book of Spells (Manual)
Copyable disk with:
Spellcaster Language
Tutorial program
Video game subprogram library
One issue of The Spellswappers' Gazette
1-800-635-0050
MC/VISA (In VA call 1-703-433-8788)
At your dealer or direct from:
Shenandoah Software
1111 Mt. Clinton Pike
Harrisonburg, VA 22S01
For Apple II, II+, He
The language: Spellcaster was designed from
scratch to be easy to learn, yet formally complete. Its
privitives are not numeric operations, but screen
operations. Each change in state is visible to the
programmer. Spellcaster is highly structured (nested
conditions, loops with exit conditions, recursion) but
the control structures are expressed with radical
simplicity. "Teleporters" are unique language fea-
tures that partially save and restore process state to
permit real-time video game programming.
The environment: Imagine an editor and an
interpreter so wed that every keystroke, as it is
typed, is syntactically checked and executed, so you
instantly see its effects. If you backspace, the pro-
gram reconstructs its previous state — even in the
middle of conditions and loops.
The tutorial: Keystrokes generated by the tutor-
ial guide the user, stroke by stroke, through experi-
ments in programming. The tutorial can generate
macro's which execute on the spot. The pedogogical
approach is to have beginners build their own video
games.
* On the flip side of the Spellcaster disk is a free issue of The Spellswappers' Gazette, a diskette magazine of readers' games,
comments and programming know-how.
Apple is a trademark ot Apple Computer. Inc.
136
S O F T A I I
MAY 1984
We make
apples grow!
\0
101ASUPPORTS
THEj^S-OSrAND
THE INFAX 101 A, 10 MEGABYTES BIG!
The Infax 101 A disk drive subsystem has been designed
specifically for Apple* owners interested in added storage.
The Infax 101 A features a removable 10 megabyte data
cartridge. Your Apple* can have almost infinite storage
capacity with the new Infax 101A.
Look at the features the Infax 101A offers: * Highest
performance, reliability of any removable disk drive.
* Lowest cost 10 megabyte (formatted) data cartridge.
* More resistant to shock and vibration than any other
fixed or removable disk drive. ★ Fastest start/stop (car-
tridge replacement) time of any high performance disk
drive. * Non-contact head to disk interface. * Micro-
processor-based error correction. + User transparent
error detection and correction. * Automatic start-up diag-
nostics, idle drive shutdown, error recovery procedures.
* Host adapter/controller and software supports up to 4
drives simultaneously. * Cartridge write protect switch.
The Infax 101 A comes with disk drive, data cartridge, power supply, cables and
personal computer adapter. Software included supports Apple" DOS 3.3, Pascal
and CP/M." Also included are support software for quick copying, backup and
file management. Slot independent. Supports auto-boot capability. Infax is a
" "roducts "Apple. Apple III, Apple II ProDOS and
rks of Apple Computer, Inc. ' "CP/M is a regis-
arch, Inc.
For additional information and the name of
e dealer nearest you call (800) 241-1 119 —
n Georgia call (404) 981-6778. Or write:
UFAX, INC., 5301 Covington Highway,
Decatur, Georgia 30035
a program with Bug Off! installed, it's necessary to insert the program
disk for "product verification"; the verification takes almost a full
minute.
Besides its debugging features, Bug Off! includes command macros,
the ability to save groups of commands to be used later, on-line help
files, and a listing command that lists text files during debugging. (II
Bug Off!, by Carl Byington, First Byte (2845 Temple Avenue, Long Beach, CA
90806; 213-595-5716). $49.95.
THE VISIBLE COMPUTER: 6502. By Charles Anderson. Remember those
intriguing transparent plastic human models that allowed you to see most
of the inside workings of the amazing human body? Of course, these
models didn't instantly teach us to be doctors, but instead gave us some
general ideas about what's going on inside of our bodies. The Visi-
ble Computer: 6502 serves the same purpose as those models, letting
us explore the world of the 6502 assembly language used in the Ap-
ple computer.
The Visible Computer: 6502 consists of twenty-four sample programs
demonstrating how most of the 6502 instructions work. The manual asks
that the user be familiar with Basic to understand the similarities between
the two languages, but knowledge of any programming language will do.
In a conversational manner, the tutorial introduces basic concepts for the
novice programmer. Later, it teaches how to use JVC's commands.
Now the real power of TVC becomes evident. JVC allows you to step
through each individual assembly language instruction while it shows a
simulation of the 6502 's internal registers. By viewing these registers,
you can see the effects of each instruction, which may lead to a more
complete understanding of each instruction.
The sample programs contained on the disk demonstrate most of the
6502 's instructions, but they do little more than execute the instruction
being discussed. A suggestion on the usage of each instruction would
have been very helpful. The manual briefly explains the execution of
these sample programs, but if you get confused, you're on your own.
Even though stepping through the program should reveal the answer to
your question, the tutorial could be a little more thorough in discussing
some of the programs.
After going through each of the sample programs, you're ready to
start writing some really exciting programs; the only problem is that
you're done with the tutorial. The disk contains a few larger sample pro-
grams, but all you can do is read the listings, step through them, and at-
tempt to understand what's going on. The program has little provision
for helping the user write programs. It's kind of like trying to learn how
to swim by reading books and watching films about it, but never actually
getting into the pool.
One of TVC's features is its power as a debugging tool. Once you've
finished the tutorial, bought an assembler, and finally begun to write pro-
grams, you can use 7VCto step through programs similar to the way old-
Monitor ROM programmers used the trace and step functions in the pre-
Autostart ROM days, but with many added features. If you are tired of
looking at everything in hexadecimal, change the registers to decimal or
binary numbers. You may also choose which part of memory to view
during the execution of a program and the speed of the trace. Using these
powerful features could easily take some of the headaches out of debug-
ging assembly language programs.
Watch out, though. TVC provides only IK of user memory. Pro-
grams can be virtually any size, but if they conflict with memory loca-
tions of TVC commands, it's bombs away time.
TVC won't make you an instant 6502 wizard or teach you the greatest
sorting algorithms ever; instead, it helps you develop the basic concepts
needed to become a good assembly language programmer by showing
what goes on inside the machine during a program's execution. (II
The Visible Computer: 6502, by Charles Anderson, Software Masters (3330
Hillcroft, Suite BB, Houston, TX 77057; 713-266-5771). $49.95.
DISKQUIK. By Harry Bruce and Gene Hite. Almost as long as there have
been memory cards for the Apple, there have been disk drive emulator
programs. People very often buy extra memory because they need it
for their spreadsheets or word processors and then discover that, out-
side of the one program they bought it for, none of their software can use
it. Even Basic can only get to the memory via extraordinary program-
ming calisthenics. Such are the perils of putting more than 64K into a
64K computer.
Pick a Number Between
pfs:fi!e and dBASE II ....
You've outgrown the simple file manager you started with. Perhaps you need more than one disk of data per file,
or password protection, or greater math and report capabilities. You know what the programmer down the street
uses, but you still think that "multiple relations" refers to your in-laws, and you're not sure you want to know
"query language." Besides, if it's so easy to use, why all those expensive seminars, books, and programs to make
it easier? Don't trade in your computer on a bunch of used file cabinets . . .
Check out the alternatives . . .
Power Without Programming!
for IBM-PC
ADVANCED
DB MASTER
The most powerful
user-oriented information
management system available
for the IBM PC®, PC/XT®,
100% compatibles, and
SAGE™ II/IV computers.
Works with hard disk or
floppies. 256K RAM required.
• Up to 44 diskettes of data
per file!
• Built-in letter writing/mail
merge capability
• Exchange data with
1-2-3™, VisiCalc®,
Multiplan™, etc.
• Password file protection
• Keystroke macros
• Computed fields with
complex formulas and date
math
• Automatic table lookups
Retails for $595.
Try Before You Buy!
For a working sample version
of Advanced DB Master, see
your Stoneware dealer, or
send $9.95 (refundable with
purchase) to Sample Version,
Stoneware, Inc., 50 Belvedere
St., San Rafael, CA 94901.
Advanced
DB Master
for Apple II
DB Master
DB MASTER
4 PLUS
We integrated all the
functions* of Utility Paks
#1 and #2 into DB Master
Version Four and created
DB Master 4 Plus. Now you
get more features than ever
for Apple® II + /lie or
Franklin Ace™ 1000/1200
information management —
with no increase in price!
• Up to 100 or more diskettes
of data per file!
• VisiFile™ and PFS file
converters
• File restructure capability
• DIF™ translators
• Global editor (including
date math)
• Label printer (up to 5
across)
• Damaged file recovery
*(except Transaction File
Merge)
Retails for $350.
Free Brochure
For a free brochure describing
DB Master 4 Plus, see your
local Stoneware dealer.
STONEWARE
®
STONEWARE INCORPORATED • 50 BELVEDERE STREET • SAN RAFAEL. CA 94901
TELEPHONE (415) 454-6500 • TELEX II: 910-384-2016 STONEWARE SRFL
REGISTERED TRADEMARKS:
Stoneware (Stoneware, Incorporated) • IBM PC and IBM PC/XT
(International Business Machines Corporation) • dBASE II (Ashton-Tate)
pfs (Software Publishing Corporation) • VisiCalc (VisiCofp)
TRADEMARKS:
Advanced DB Master and DB Master (DB Master Associates) • Apple 11+
and He (Apple Computer, Inc.) • DIF (Software Arts Corp.) •
Franklin ACE (Franklin Computer Corporation) • 1-2-3 (Lotus Development
Corporation) • Multiplan (Microsoft Corporation) • VisiFile (VisiCorp)
NOW YOUR APPLE CAN HOOK
TO ANY MAINFRAME.
Apple is a registered trademark of Apple Computer, Inc.,
CP/M is a registered trademark of Digital Research, Inc.,
Dow Jones News/Retrieval is a registered trademark of
Dow Jones, Inc. The Source is a service mark of
Source Telecomputing Corporation,
CompuServe is a registered
trademark of CompuServe, Inc.
If you have an Apple II,
Apple II Plus, or Apple lie,
we have good news for you. Now1
there are two inexpensive software1
programs that can turn your Apple
into a much more valuable tool.
Softerm 1 connects you with
information services.
Softerm 1 lets you retrieve information from
services such as The Source,™ Compu-
Serve®, and Dow Jones News/ Retrieval®.
Plus, gives you the ability to access bulletin
boards and send or receive electronic mail.
Other features include user-defined key-
board macros, built-in phone book for auto-
matic dialing, terminal mode line capture
simultaneously to print or disk, copy screen
to print or disk, and terminal status display.
Softerm 2 connects you with
your company's computer.
This expanded version of Softerm lets you
gain access to the information stored in
your company's main computer from your
home or office. With either version of
Softerm, you can down load information into
your Apple and capture it on your own disk
in any format you choose- DOS, CP/M®,
or Pascal. Also included with Softerm is a
source program for your host computer to
ensure compatibility with Softerm's file
transfer capabilities.
Makes your Apple work exactly
like any major terminal.
Softerm 2 provides complete emulation of
these terminals: ADDS Regent 20, 25, 40,
60; ADDS Viewpoint; Data General D200;
Datapoint 3601; DEC VT102, VT52; Hazeltine
1400, 1410, 1500, 1520; Hewlett-Packard
2622A; Honeywell VIP7205; VIP7801,
VIP7803; IBM 3101 Model 10 and 20; Lear
Siegler ADM-3A, ADM-5 and TeleVideo
910, 925, 950. And the list is growing all
the time. We'll send you a User's Guide, handy
reference card, and a telephone number to
call if you need more assistance.
Softerm can't become obsolete.
We constantly improve Softerm. And we
make those improvements available to you
24 hours a day, 7 days a week. To update
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transfer the improvements to your disk.
Get Softerm now.
It's the inexpensive way to turn your Apple
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home or office. Softerm 1 is only $135;
Softerm 2 is $195. Both are available now
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Inc. For more information or to order, call
(901)683-6850.
SOFTRONICS
3639 New Getwell Road, Suite 10
Memphis, TN 38118. (901) 683-6850
MAY 1984
son ALK
139
Disk drive emulators were invented to fix this problem by providing
memory cards with something generally useful to do. They convince
DOS that the extra memory is actually a very fast disk drive, and so al-
low the user to save programs and other files to the memory card and
then retrieve them far more quickly than they would be able to do other-
wise. This function turns out to be very useful when the user creates pro-
grams that are so large they can't be held in main memory all at once and
need to be loaded and run in manageable parts.
The 64K memory bank that comes on the Apple He's Extended
80-Column Text Card is the one most used, for the simple reasons that
more people have that card than any other, and it's made by Apple. Nev-
ertheless, Basic still can't use the extra memory without calling on ma-
chine language routines for help, and programs that were written before
the He appeared don't recognize the presence of the extra memory.
DiskQuik is packed with little programs you can use to customize the
pseudodisk that DOS thinks is in slot 3. Since there is no physical disk
drive in slot 3, it has no in use light. DiskQuik solves this by telling you
when it's reading from or writing to the disk by clicking the speaker re-
peatedly. If you find this annoying, you can use the menu program to
shut it off.
The menu also allows a number of other things. You can protect the
card's graphics memory area so that DiskQuik doesn't conflict with dou-
ble-hi-res graphics. You can lock the disk, which has the same effect as
gutting a write-protect tab on a real disk. DiskQuik disables the DOS ink
command and replaces it with wipe, a form of init that works only on the
slot 3 pseudodisk. You can disconnect the pseudodisk to restore the init
command, and reconnect it later with its files intact. With a single menu
selection (or by running a program on the DiskQuik master) you can back
up the entire pseudodisk to a floppy, and with another menu selection (or
program) you can restore the contents of the floppy to the pseudodisk.
What distinguishes Beagle's DiskQuik from any other disk drive
emulator is the same thing that distinguishes all of Beagle's programs.
It's more than a sense of humor; it's the joy of sharing. That joy comes
through in the menu programs in Beagle disks, which are easy to use, vis-
ually interesting, imaginative, and often entertaining. It also comes
through in their documentation, which goes beyond mere explanations of
how to use their programs and always includes information you can use
in other contexts. The Beagles are not only great hobbyist programmers,
they're also willing to show you their tricks. DD
DiskQuik, by Harry Bruce and Gene Hite, Beagle Bros (4315 Sierra Vista, San
Diego, CA 92103; 619-296-6400). $29.50.
EXPEHSE ACCOUNT MAMACER. While this program can be helpful to em-
pjrjyees who must account for expenses, it is especially useful to those
people who, for tax or other record-keeping purposes, need to track their
expenses on a yearly basis.
Starting a statement and entering expenses is the electronic equivalent
of filling out a company expense report. When entering expenses, you're
given the choice of being prompted for each expense item or entering ex-
penses individually by their codes. Using codes is faster if only a few ex-
penses are to be entered, but being prompted helps prevent overlooking
any stray expenses.
After a statement has been completed, it's necessary to print it
(eighty -column printer, please) and check for accuracy. Incorrect entries
mean having to go back to the main menu and load a module for modify-
ing and deleting expenses (even if an error is found as soon as it is en-
tered, you'll have to go back to the main menu to correct it). A data disk
can accommodate only ten statements.
If you'd like statement totals transferred to the year-to-date totals, the
system reorganizes all the expense items into groups called budget lines
and adds them to expenses from previous statements. Initially, the budg-
et lines conform to the lines found on IRS Form 2106; again, those can
be changed to suit individual needs.
One of the system's strong points is how easily it can be customized.
When you initialize a data disk, you can choose to have expenses divided
between clients or projects. Then, every time you enter an expense, the
system will ask you for a client/project code and will add these subtotals
to the statement. Private contractors and consultants who charge ex-
penses to various clients will find this feature invaluable, though it would
be even more helpful if client coded expenses were also subtotaled on a
yearly basis.
Changing the statement groups or the budget lines can be cumber-
some. Deleting a line to replace it with another moves all lines below it
up a line, which means the new line will appear at the end instead of
where the deleted line was. Moreover, expense items don't automatically
"move up" with the budget lines they were listed under; instead, they
must be rearranged through the program's Options/Change module.
Once the budget lines and expenses are arranged, you can enter a
budget amount for each line. A printout will include the budget amount,
how much has been spent to date, and the difference or excess. The re-
port also predicts whether you will be within the budget at year's end.
In general, Expense Account Manager is easy to use. Most of the
prompts are set up so that hitting the return key is the same as entering a
null response; this makes it easy to flip through prompted questions.
Once you understand the system structure, polite, informative error mes-
sages and simple dialogue make the manual almost unnecessary. In most
cases, entering an asterisk is all it takes to save what has been entered and
return to the previous menu.
This friendliness, coupled with the system's adaptability, makes it
easy to overlook its few idiosyncrasies, especially at tax time, when Ex-
pense Account Manager s clear, detailed records can make the chore of
recording business deductions as easy as filling in the blanks. KIL
Expense Account Manager, Adaptive Software (1868 Cavell Avenue, Highland
Park, IL 60035; 312-831-4420). $150.
FOR APPLE II PLUS, FRANKLIN, APPLE lie
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custom typesetter. After the fonts are loaded, they will stay in your
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sumn
MAY 1984
28 r£adV 768 T0 807
30 POKE X,B
40 NEXT X
50 CI = 769
60 C2 = 773
70 FOR SI = 2 TO 25S
SO FOR S2=.| TO SI - I
90 POKE CI, SI
100 POKE C2.S2
110 PRINT SI.S2
120 CALL- 768
130 NEXT S2.S1
140 DATA 169, 50 .133, 255,169,20
58 KffK 133 254,16d,0,l62;d
S£JA 232,228 254 240,16,228
| p m'i%\\%4^ io 9
flUOW THE
A Stellar Performance
If you were thoroughly confused by the labels under figure 2 last
month, there 's a good reason. The labels were thoroughly confusing. All
references to ULIN were supposed to read VLIN and all of the H coor-
dinates should have been X coordinates. Our supply of Vs and Xs has
been replenished and steps have been taken to see that such shortages
don 't happen again.
Lo-res graphics are colorful and fun to play with, but let's face it —
they're blocky. After a short time, that blockiness gets to look childish
and the appeal begins to wear thin. Fortunately, there is another graphics
mode that is easily accessible from Applesoft: hi-res. Unless you've con-
fined your Apple use entirely to spreadsheets, word processors, Infocom
adventures, and, of course, following that oF floating point, you've prob-
ably seen hi-res graphics in action in many different guises.
Hi-res graphics have been used for two-dimensional line drawings,
three-dimensional line drawings, paintings, logos, charts, arcade games,
educational games, lower-case lettering and seventy-column text on stan-
dard Apple II Pluses, and a slew of other things. Unfortunately, many of
these things can't be done well in Applesoft. Not that Applesoft isn't suf-
ficiently flexible; it's just not sufficiently fast. Hi-res graphics deal with
large amounts of memory.
Same Name, New Initial. Learning the first commands of hi-res
graphics is simple. The first three commands are close cousins of the
first three lo-res commands, which are gr, color, and plot. To derive
their hi-res equivalents, tack an H onto the beginning of each of them and
you get hgr, hcolor, and hplot.
As you might guess, hgr gets us into the hi-res mode. Like gr, it
leaves four lines at the bottom of the screen in text mode, which allows
us to give hi-res commands in immediate mode and see what they do on
the screen. There is another way of getting into hi-res graphics: the hgr2
command. The most obvious difference between hgr and hgr2 is that
when you use hgr2 it doesn't display four lines of text at the bottom of
the screen.
The more obscure difference between the two is that they use dif-
ferent areas of memory. All of the display modes in the Apple are
memory-mapped. That means each text character, lo-res block, or hi-res
dot corresponds exactly to a particular unit of memory. Hgr and hgr2 ac-
tivate and display two separate pages of hi-res memory. This fact has two
major implications: Sometimes we will choose to use a page of memory
based on where it resides in memory. Very long Applesoft programs
conflict with hi-res page one. However, a program will conflict with hi-
res page two only if it's more than twice as long as one that conflicts with
page one. The second implication is that separate pictures can be drawn
on the two pages.
The memory conflicts are worth discussing now because they can be-
come terribly inconvenient when they occur unless you can identify and
deal with them. There are two possible symptoms:
1. After turning on hi-res display mode with the hgr command, the
program crashes in some unusual way. When you list the program, you
discover that the last few (or several) lines of the program have vanished
mysteriously.
2. As you are drawing on the hi-res screen, garbage begins to appear
in addition to the lines your program is drawing. The garbage first ap-
pears in the upper left corner of the screen and proceeds in a perfect hori-
zontal line to the right side of the screen. Other than its orderly progres-
sion, the garbage looks like random dots — like some kind of Morse code
notation. When it reaches the right side of the screen, it reappears on the
left side about a third of the way down. If allowed to continue, it may
cause the program to behave unpredictably, but it will not damage the
program code itself.
The first symptom is caused by the program code's using space in the
hi-res memory area. Program code begins at decimal address 2048 and
proceeds to higher addresses as the program gets longer. The first hi-res
page begins at 8192. The first thing hgr does is clear the screen to black,
which is accomplished by clearing the hi-res memory area to all zeros. If
the program goes beyond address 8192, part of the program will be
cleared to all zeros as well.
The second symptom is caused not by the program but by its vari-
ables, conflicting with hi-res memory. Variables start where the program
ends and build toward higher addresses. Their space is not allocated all at
once, but one variable at a time as the program encounters them while
running.
The easiest solution to either of these problems is to use hi-res page
two instead of page one by substituting hgr2 commands for all the hgr
commands in the program. If you absolutely have to have four lines of
text at the bottom of the screen, there are other solutions, but they aren't
simple. We'll look at them in the months ahead, when we talk about ma-
chine language with Applesoft and memory use.
A Coordinated Attack. Let's get back to hgr, hcolor, and hplot.
These commands are seen most easily by typing them from the key-
board. Here's a quick tour:
HGR
When you typed this, most or all of the screen turned black. It may
have looked like Venetian blinds closing. If the cursor was near the top
of the screen, it seemed to disappear. It is actually still there, but it's hid-
den by the hi-res display. That is, it still exists on the text screen memory
map, but that part of the text map isn't being displayed right now. To
demonstrate this, hit return and then type text. When the screen flips
back to text mode, you'll see your original hgr command, a bracket
prompt on an otherwise blank line (where you hit return), and the text
command. You'll also see that, no matter where all this occurred, your
cursor is now at the bottom of the screen. This is a side effect of the text
MAY 1984
S 0 F T A L k
141
command. Type hgr again to return to graphics mode.
HCOLOR= 3
Typing this will have no effect on the screen, but it sets the color of
any lines you draw subsequently to white. Figure 1 shows a list of the
other legal values for the hcolor command and the colors they result in
(or should result in— sometimes different monitors come up with dif-
ferent colors).
HPLOT 0,0
Like lo-res graphics, hi-res graphics use a coordinate system with its
origin at the upper left corner of the screen. The X coordinate (the arbi-
trary name we will use from now on to discuss horizontal distance in dots
from the left edge of the screen) can range from 0 to 279. The Y coordi-
nate (ditto— the vertical distance from the top of the screen) can range
from 0 to 191 . If the four lines of text are visible at the bottom, all points
with a Y coordinate greater than 159 will be invisible. Plotting within
that region will not cause an error message, but plotting outside of the le-
gal X range or the greater legal Y range will.
Here's where hi-res graphics get more sophisticated than lo-res
graphics:
HPLOT 0,0 TO 279,159
Diagonal lines! A line is created by the command hplot and X,Y co-
ordinates for a starting point, followed by the word to and X,Y coordi-
nates for the ending point. Here's another surprise hi-res has in store:
HPLOT 0,0 TO 279,0 TO 279,159 TO 0,159 TO 0,0
You can keep tacking to X, Y onto the end of hplot statements to plot a se-
ries of continuous lines. Each new line begins where the last one ended.
And one last surprise, for this month anyway:
HPLOT TO 140,159
That's right, you can begin a plotting command with hplot to and Apple-
soft will assume that the last point plotted is the starting point.
Plotting on Paper. One way to become familiar with hi-res graphics
is to use Applesoft commands and programs to create static displays.
Let's start to design a logo for a fictional company, Stellar Software.
Before you start typing commands and coordinates, it's a good idea to
sketch on paper the picture you want to draw. Graph paper is excellent
for this because you can set up a grid of Cartesian coordinates and trans-
late the lines you draw directly into the parameters for hplot commands.
Figure 2 shows just such a design for the Stellar logo. After getting
the parameters from this design, we're ready to begin plotting. Let's
start a program with the proper setup commands and then proceed with
the S:
10 HGR : HCOLOR = 3
20 HPLOT 40,60 TO 30,50 TO 10,50 TO 0,60 TO 0,70 TO 10,80 TO
30,80 TO 40,90 TO 40,100 TO 30,1 10 TO 10,1 10 TO 0,100
When you run the program as it is so far, you get a nice big S on the
screen. There are a lot of numbers in this program, but you can easily see
where you might have made any mistakes just by running it and seeing
what the result is. To continue:
30 HPLOT 60,40 TO 60,100 TO 70,110 TO 80,110: HPLOT 50,60 TO
70,60
This one had to be done with two separate hplot commands because it
isn't composed of one continuous stroke. Or, more simply, if you have to
lift your pen when you write the letter, you have to use another hplot
Hcolor Color
black
green
violet
white
black
orange
blue
white
command when you plot it.
But what about our method? Is it sufficiently flexible? What if we
wanted to move the word? What if we wanted it to come out a different
size? Obviously, we would have to go through and change a lot of co-
ordinates. To scale it to half size, for example, we would have to divide
all of those numbers by two. To move it to the right, we would have to
add some constant to all of the numbers. Sounds like dull, tedious work.
Sounds like the kind of work the Apple was made for.
If we were to enter the numbers needed to create the seven letters of
the word stellar into data statements instead of hplot statements, we
could have the computer manipulate them before plotting, saving us a lot
of work. First we should do some translation ourselves. Since all of these
numbers are divisible by ten, we might as well divide them so that our
raw data holds the coordinates for as small a picture as possible. Also,
since our lowest Y coordinate is thirty (before dividing by ten), let's sub-
tract thirty from all the Y coordinates before dividing by ten. This will
make it simpler to put the picture anywhere on the screen in any size.
The easiest way to do that is to change the axis numbers on the graph pa-
per design of the logo. Starting on the Y-axis with what is now thirty,
number 0, 1,2, 3, and so on. Then just cross off the zero at the end of all
the X coordinates and you're done.
This just leaves one more problem. How do we tell the computer, in
data statements, when to hplot and when to hplot to! And how do we tell
it we're done? Easy: We use special values embedded in the data that our
data-reading routine will understand to be commands, just as we did with
the lo-res letter data last month. The only requirement is that the com-
mands can't be numbers we would use for coordinates. How about
negative numbers? Okay, - 1 means new penstroke, -2 means all done.
As an example, here's the data for the S:
500 REM STELLAR DATA
510 DATA -1, 4, 3, 3, 2, 1,
1, 8, 0, 7
2, 0, 3, 0, 4, 1, 5, 3, 5, 4, 6, 4, 7, 3,
Here's a routine that will read that data and plot it:
20 HGR2 : HCOLOR = 3
600 REM DATA PLOTTER
610 RESTORE
620 READ X
630 IFX = -2 THEN 680
640 IF X = - 1 THEN READ X,Y: HPLOT X,Y: GOTO 620
650 READY
660 HPLOT TO X,Y
670 GOTO 620
680 RETURN
The restore command in line 610 sets the data pointer to the first
piece of data in the program. Normally, it starts at the beginning of the
data and reads one element at a time; and when it runs out, it runs out.
With restore, it can read the same set of data over and over again without
having to read it into an array. This is a useful way of storing data that
doesn't have to change and that you always want to get in the same order.
oooooooooo
ooooooooooooooooooo
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
110
120
130
140
150
160
170
180
190
oi-oiroofincoNcDO)
/
\
\
\
/
\
\
\
/
k
\
/
\
/
k
/
—
Figure 1 . Hi-res colors.
Figure 2. Stellar logo design.
142
gxmn
MAY 1984
If you run the program now, you'll get a very small S at the top of the
screen and an out-of-data error. The out-of-data error can be avoided by
putting a —2 element at the end of the data. But we don't need to worry
about that for now. The real problem is how to scale and relocate the
picture.
As usual, there are several ways to do this, but the one that will teach
you the most and be the easiest to use in the long run is defined functions .
A defined function works like this: A function is always called FN some-
thing. The something is named with the same rules as a variable name, so
FN X is a legal function name, as is FN XI ; but FN 1 is not. You define
the function with the def command:
DEF FN Y(Y) = (Y - 30)/ 10
That would be the function to translate our old Y values from figure 2 to
the new ones we'll use in the data statements. The arithmetic expression
on the right of the equal sign usually includes the variable in parentheses,
called the function's argument, which follows the function name. It may
also contain other variables or constants. When you use this function,
you can use a constant or another variable as the argument, such as:
]PRINT FN Y (120)
9
This will substitute the value of 120 for the variable Y as it evaluates the
function, but it will not change the value of Y in memory. If multiple
variables are used in the function definition, only one can be used as the
argument.
Here's how we'll use two functions in the Stellar program:
10 DEF FN X(X) = XB + X * M: DEF FN Y(Y) = YB + Y * M
So XB and YB will be used as beginning points— the upper left corner
of the shape— and M will describe the size of the shape. If we wanted to
change the scale of the X-axis to be different from that of the Y-axis, we
would use different variables for magnitude, say MX and MY.
Now we just have to substitute FN X (X) for the Xs and FN Y(Y) for
the Ys in the hplot statements:
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640 IF X = - 1 THEN READ X,Y: HPLOT FN X(X), FN Y(Y): GOTO 620
660 HPLOT TO FN X(X), FN Y(Y)
So, try this:
30 M = 20:XB = 10:YB = 10: GOSUB 600
You'll still get an out-of-data error, but other than that, what appears
on the screen should tell you how you're doing so far. The rest of the
data, ending with —2, of course, will get rid of that end-of-data problem.
520 DATA - 1 , 6, 1 , 6, 7, 7, 8, 8, 8, -1,5, 3, 7, 3
530 DATA -1, 9, 6, 13, 3, 12, 2, 10, 2, 9, 3, 9, 6, 11, 8, 12, 8, 13, 7
540 DATA -1,14, 0, 14, 8
550 DATA -1, 16, 0, 16, 8
560 DATA -1, 17, 3, 18, 2, 20, 2, 21, 3, 21, 7, 22, 8,-1, 21, 5, 18, 5,
17, 6, 17, 7, 18, 8, 20, 8, 21, 7
570 DATA - 1 , 22, 2, 23, 3, 23, 8, - 1 , 23, 3, 24, 2, 26, 2, 27, 3,-2
For some fancier logos, try looping through and incrementing the XB
and YB values, like this:
30 M = 10
40 FOR YB = OTO 12 STEP 3
50 XB = 2 * YB / 3
60 GOSUB 600
70 NEXT YB
80 END
Lots of other things are possible, too. If you don't like the name
Stellar, try putting in your own software company name. Or your name.
Try looping through and incrementing M as well as XB and YB. If
you're really ambitious, you might try making a cross between this pro-
gram and last month's lo-res banner to make a hi-res banner.
Last month's banner and this month's logo are sort of examples of
shape tables. That is, they use a collection of data to draw a picture. Ap-
plesoft has a facility for shape tables built into it. It's more complicated
than the ones we've looked at, but more powerful as well. Among other
things, it allows some simple animation. And that will be the topic of
next month's Follow the Floating Point. Hi
GLOSSARY
DEF: The command to define a user-created function.
Followed by the function name, an argument, an equal
sign, and the expression to be used in evaluating the
function.
Defined functions: A way for the programmer to set up
equations that will be used frequently in the program as
functions. They make it easier to use mathematical transla-
tions of one kind of data to another, and they make pro-
grams easier to read and write.
FN: The Applesoft reserved word signifying the beginning of
a function name. The rules for a legal function name are
the same as the rules for a legal variable name. It must start
with a letter, and only the first two characters after the FN
are significant.
HCOLOR: Sets the color for hi-res plotting. Although
assigned like a variable, it cannot be used in an expres-
sion. Its legal range of values is from 0 to 7.
HGR: Turns on hi-res graphics mode, page one, and clears
the screen. Four lines of text are displayed at the bottom of
the screen.
HGR2: Turns on hi-res graphics mode, page two, and clears
the screen.
HPLOT: Followed by a coordinate pair, plots a point.
Followed by a coordinate pair, the keyword to, and an-
other coordinate pair, draws a line. Followed by the
keyword to and a coordinate pair, draws a line from the last
point hplotted.
Memory-mapped graphics: The graphics system used by
the Apple in which areas of memory are set aside to repre-
sent characters on the text screen, blocks on the lo-res
screen, or dots on the hi-res screen.
RESTORE: Used with read and data, this command sets the
data pointer to the first element of data in the program,
allowing data to be read more than once.
System Saver didn't become the
Apple's number one selling*
peripheral by being just a fan.
What made over 100,000 Apple owners fall in
love with System Saver? The answer is simple.
It's the most versatile, most convenient, most
useful peripheral ever made for the Apple.
System Saver niters out damaging AC line
noise and power surges.
70-90% of all microcomputer malfunctions can be
traced to power line problems** Problems your
System Saver guards against.
Power line noise can often be interpreted as data.
This confuses your computer and produces system
errors. Power surges and spikes can cause severe
damage to your Apple's delicate circuitry and lead
to costly servicing.
System Saver clips surges and
spikes at a 130 Volts RMS/175 —
Volts dc level. A PI type filter
attenuates common and
transverse mode noise by a
minimum of 30 dB from 600
kHz to 20 mHz with a max-
imum attenuation of 50 dB.
You end up with an Apple
that's more accurate, more ™
efficient and more reliable.
SYSTEM SAVER
System Saver lets your Apple keep its cool.
Today's advanced peripheral cards generate heat. In
addition, the cards block any natural air flow through
the Apple He creating high temperature conditions
that shorten the life of the Apple and peripheral cards.
System Saver's efficient, quiet
fan draws fresh air across
the mother board, over
the power supply and
out the side ventilation
slots. It leaves your Apple cool, calm and running
at top speed.
System Saver makes your Apple more
convenient to use.
No more reaching around to the back of your Apple
to turn it on. No more fumbling for outlets and cords
to plug in your monitor and printer. System Saver
organizes all your power needs.
So if you want to keep
damaging heat, line noise and power surges out of
your system for good, pick up the only peripheral
that's in use every second your computer is in use.
The System Saver. You'll soon come to think of it as
the piece Apple forgot.
Compatible with Apple stand
apple n
It functions as a multi-outlet power strip with two
switched outlets. Plus System Saver offers the
ultimate convenience; a front mounted power switch
for fingertip control of your entire system.
$89.95 at Apple dealers everywhere.
^kensington
^microware
251 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10010
(212) 475- 5200 Telex : 467383 KML NY
*Softsel Computer Products Hot List **PC Magazine March 1983
System Saver is UL Listed. System Saver's surge suppression circuitry conforms System Saver is a registered trademark of Kensington Microware Ltd.
to IEEE specification 507 1980, Category A Available in 220/240 Volts, 50/60 Hz © 1983 Kensington Microware Ltd. System Saver is patent pending.
145
&y CAM (AfcLSTOM
Anyone who knows anything about the Apple computer
knows that the Apple is not just a computer, it's a culture. A cul-
ture that includes bluejeans and Softalk and a million inventive
people with a common bond. Apple, in the form of its founders
Steve and Steve, spawned the US Festival and assured us that
1984 would not be like 1984 and . . . wait a minute. To the rest of
the world Apple is just another computer; no more. It is not a
cross of silver that protects the user from totalitarianism (the head
of the Argentine prison system is an Apple owner) and bad
bigness and three-piece suits. So when one is in the business of
exporting Apples and associated products one needs to distin-
guish the mystique from the computer. Both may be exportable,
just as California can export the sunshine that goes into her
agricultural products along with the products themselves, but the
seller should not be confused as to which is which.
In thinking about the Apple market overseas, it's best to start
by putting the size of the market in perspective.
Japan may be a wonderful place to sell salmon and Douglas
fir, but as a market for Apple software it ranks about as high as
the Minneapolis metropolitan area. And the rest of the world,
meaning predominately Europe and Australia, has about as big an
Apple software appetite as Chicago— certainly not insignificant,
but small enough that any company wishing to export needs to
give considerable thought to what its overall goals in foreign Ap-
ple markets might be.
These conditions may very well change. Apple is well posi-
tioned to expand greatly its market share overseas, where the
name IBM doesn't so readily stand in its way; although illegal
Apple clones may offset this.
At present, the problem of exporting Apple software can be
expressed fairly simply: Is it profitable? American distributors,
taking advantage of the same economies of scale that enable them
to function in the United States, already sell American product
overseas, so there may be no incentive at all for suppliers to make
their own contacts. Distribution is, after all, a valuable and ex-
pensive service, so why duplicate the effort?
One reason is the wish to enhance the distributors' efforts,
rather than duplicate them— by providing software and documen-
tation in the local language, for example. A U.S. company may
wish to expend an extra effort to gain a greater market share in
the face of the foreign domestic competition, which is often pro-
tected by trade barriers. The very willingness to export can lead
to reciprocal arrangements that provide the American company
with foreign products for the American market.
Sayonara. The Apple software market in Japan has probably
never exceeded five hundred units of any given package. Heavily
documented software is very difficult for the Japanese to use be-
cause English isn't widely understood.
Over the past few years many companies have translated
packages into Japanese, which can increase the market penetra-
tion of the product, provided it doesn't increase the price signifi-
cantly. Fortunately for American suppliers, the Japanese remain
infatuated by American creativity, so American software can
command higher prices than local products. This is somewhat
ironic: Japan is the only foreign country whose quality of enter-
tainment software approaches American standards and whose
many programmers have had success selling their programs in the
U.S. (through American publishers).
In an effort to spur its domestic software industry, Japan is
formulating tighter copyright laws to lessen the impact of piracy
and is exploring hardware standards. The MSX, an eight-bit stan-
dard built around a Z-80 and the Texas International graphics
chip, will enable Japanese companies to cut their teeth on a
sizable domestic market before venturing into the volatile
American and European markets.
146 mvm
Why Don't the English Teach Their Children. ... In con-
trast to Japan, Great Britain has always been a good market for
Apple software but has never been a successful producer of prod-
ucts for the American market. Favored by a common language
and relatively little red tape, American suppliers and distributors
have long found a steady market for products in England. This
has slowed in the past year or so because the strength of the
American dollar makes U.S. products sell for two to four times
the price of domestic software products.
As a result, English software companies have thrived. The
price differential has spared British producers from being com-
pared point by point against technically more refined American
Apple software products. The long-term prognosis, however,
would seem to indicate that domestic competition in Great Britain
will result in significantly improved software, just as it has here,
and that American software will be priced out of the British
market when that occurs.
American software suppliers would look very favorably at a de-
cline in the strength of the dollar. An increase in the relative
strength of the pound or the mark means that American goods
priced in dollars become less expensive in foreign markets. For ex-
ample, presently an American-made game for the Apple computer
costs twenty-five to thirty-five pounds sterling in England, com-
pared to eight to twelve pounds for an English-made game. Four
years ago, when the dollar was not so strong, that same American
game would have cost ten to fifteen pounds sterling while the Eng-
lish game would still have cost eight to twelve pounds.
It's Very Fancy, the Continental. On the European conti-
A L K MAY 1984
nent, many software vendors are looking at major European dis-
tributors to help translate and sell American products. France has
a law requiring French documentation for all software sold there,
and, though the law is inconsistently enforced, it creates un-
certainty around American products that don't have French
documentation.
In addition, the role of the distributor in Europe is different
from what it is here. Distributors are the exclusive representa-
tives of the products they carry, with marketing and customer ser-
vice obligations beyond those of American distribution com-
panies. The person on the street in Europe tends to know the
names of the major product distributors, because the distributors
are contractually bound to advertise and serve the products of the
manufacturers they represent. American distributors are more
geared toward serving the retailer, usually not assuming as many
marketing and service responsibilities for the manufacturer.
A major part of any business transaction, whether it's a con-
sumer buying a piece of software or a store agreeing to buy the
software from the manufacturer, is confidence. The difficulty
anyone faces in doing business overseas is trying to establish the
same confidence in a short series of meetings that they have been
able to establish at home over a period of years. If you were try-
ing to publish your products in Germany, for example, and you
were approached by someone from Bertelsmen Publishing and
someone from KomputerGesellschaft of Berlin, would you know
that the former is a $2.5-billion company and the latter a name
made up for this article?
Tales of the South Pacific. Australia has proven to be an in-
teresting challenge for American producers. The Australian mar-
ket is relatively small and difficult to service because of its geo-
graphical size. In addition, the Australian business environment
is untamed and very competitive. Interviewing Australian
distributors is similar to taking part in small talk at a poolside
party at J.R. Ewing's house. Words like biggest, richest, and
control seem to fit in when Australians discuss business. But the
winner of the shootout at the Aussie corral seems to be a mild-
mannered, bespectacled young organization named Imagineer-
ing. American companies looking for a partner down under have
reacted positively to Imagineering's management style, which
favors footwork over breast-beating.
The chances of getting products into Australia without having
to pay a hefty 40 percent customs duty depend very much on
whether the customs agent on duty on a given day thinks that soft-
ware ought to be classified as a toy or as stationery or plain
doesn't know what it is.
Because of the customs problem, many software manufac-
turers have chosen to have their software mastered (duplicated in
quantity from a master disk) in overseas locations. This practice
enables foreign distributors to meet demand more quickly and
cheaply, which is a major key to preventing pirated software
from dominating foreign markets.
Programmers from Australia and New Zealand have had
some good success in the United States market. Many Apple
owners may be fans of Southern Command, Dragon 's Eye, or the
Zardax word processor without realizing they're contributing to
our balance-of-payments deficit.
The Apples of Babel. Apple's software base gives Apple
Computer a powerful weapon in the fight for new foreign hard-
ware markets. Purchasing decisions in developing nations are
likely to be based on stability and support. As these markets
grow, so too will the demand for software in ever-more-obscure
languages, and the challenge to understand foreign languages
and cultures will become increasingly important in the software
industry.
Translating the Apple "culture" into foreign environments
may be one of the most interesting parts of the task. 9
OUTTAKiiS l=RCM AN
ISXPORTISR'S NCTIEIJOCK
Years ago, we collared a deal with Japan— eventually worth mil-
lions—by leaving a copy of Harvard magazine on the coffee table.
Not knowing anything about Japan, but thinking that foreigners often
value education over money, our company officers hoped to compen-
sate for their lack of funds. Upon entering die office (a living room),
the president of the Japanese company saw the magazine and jumped
into a three-day conversation on world history, literature, and West-
ern moral thought. At the end of the three days, he signed a deal with
us without ever completing his itinerary of American suitors.
•
I once went to New Zealand at the request of a distributor who
wanted nationwide rights to our Apple product. When I got there, die
New Zealander asked me to help him set up the Apple because he'd
never seen one before.
•
Last year we received a letter from England that began, "Dear
Sir, we are probably the least successful software publisher in
England, with die worst sales force, the lousiest typist, and the most
inept board of directors in the country. ... If you don't want our
software, we can live with it, because we are pigheaded enough to
believe that this computer genius we have locked up in the basement
will eventually come up with something useful."
Their games were the best I had ever seen from England.
•
Just before the British- Argentine war over the Falkland Islands,
we had a regular customer in the Falklands who was asking for
islandwide rights. We didn't ask whether he wanted both English and
Spanish rights.
•
We've had requests for Lebanese educational rights, rights for the
South African "coloured" market, and Polish rights; we've even had
a request from the director of Argentinean prisons — during their reign
of terror— for more combat simulations. The lesson seems to be that,
no matter what goes on in the world, people want software and wdl
eventually want it to reflect their culture, however remote from the
peaceful traffic jams of Silicon Valley. C( 31
ATARISOFT
Centipede $28.00
Defender $28.00
Pac-Man $28.00
Robotron 2084 28.00
AVALON HILL
T.A.C $28.00
Telengard 28.00
AVANT-GARDE CREATIONS
Computer Golf 2 $25.00
BEAGLE BROTHERS
Alpha Plot $28 00
Apple Mechanic 21.00
Beagle Bag 21.00
Beagle Basic 28.00
DOS Boss 20 00
Double Take 25.00
Flex Text/Type 21.00
Frame Up 21.00
Pronto DOS 21.00
Tip Disk #1 15.00
Typefaces 15.00
Utility City 21 00
BLUE CHIP
Baron $42 00
Millionaire 42.00
Tycoon 42.00
BRODERBUND
A.E $25.00
Bank Street Writer 48 00
Choplifter 25 00
Drol 25 00
Gumball 21.00
Lode Runner 25.00
Spare Change 25.00
CALIFORNIA PACIFIC
Ultima/Akalabeth $25.00
CBS SOFTWARE
Goren: Learning Bridge
Made Easy $56.00
Mastering the SAT 105.00
Mystery Master 25.00
Success With Math . . .ea. 20.00
DATAMOST
Aztec $28.00
Bilestoad 28 00
Casino 28.00
Swashbuckler 25 00
Theif 21.00
DATASOFT
Zaxxon $28.00
DECISION SUPPORT
The Accountant $99.00
Business Accountant . . .225.00
DESIGN-WARE
Creature Creator $28.00
Crypto-Cube 28.00
Spellicopter 28.00
Trap-A-Zoid 28,00
EDU-WARE
Algebra 1-4 ea $28.00
Algebra 5 & 6 35.00
Compu-Read 21.00
Decimals 35.00
Fractions 35 00
Prisoner 2 25.00
Rendezvous 28.00
EINSTEIN
Einstein Compiler $99.00
Memory Trainer 68.00
ELECTRONIC ARTS
Archon $28.00
Axis Assassin 25.00
Dr. J & Larry Bird Go
One-on-One 26.00
Hard Hat Mack 25.00
Last Gladiator 25.00
Music Construction
Set 28.00
Pinball Construction
Set 28.00
Standing Stones 28.00
H.A.L. LABS
Super Taxman 2 $20.00
Vindicator 20.00
HAYDEN SOFTWARE
Go $25.00
MicroMath ea. 21.00
ORCA/M 99.00
Pie Writer 2.2 112.00
Sargon III 35.00
HOWARD SOFTWARE
Tax Preparer 1 983 ....$169.00
Tax Preparer 1 984 CALL
INFOCOM
Deadline $35.00
Enchanter 35.00
Infidel 35.00
Planetfall 35.00
Starcross 28.00
Suspended 35.00
Witness 35.00
Zork I. II, III ea 28.00
KOALA TECHNOLOGIES
Koala Touch Tablet .... $89.00
Coloring Book 21,99
Spider Eater 21.00
KRELL SOFTWARE
Krell Logo $75.00
Krell SAT 249.00
L & S COMPUTER WARE
Crossword Magic $35.00
LIGHTNING SOFTWARE
Master Type $28.00
MICROLAB
Death in Carribean $25.00
Dino Eggs 28.00
Miner 2049er 28 00
MICROMAX
Cubit $28.00
(Call for pricing on
MICROMAX hardware)
MICROSOFT
MultiPlan $175.00
Olympic Decathlon 21.00
Typing Tutor II 20.00
MONOGRAM
Dollars & Sense $79.00
No Hidden Charges
No Charge for Credit Cards
No Shipping Delay for Personal Checks
MUSE
Advanced Blackjack $35.00
Castle Wolfenstein 21.00
Caverns of Freitag 21 00
Eating Machine 35.00
Robot War 28.00
Super Text 79.00
ODESTA
Chess 7.0 $49.00
Checkers 35.00
Odin 35.00
OMEGA MICROWARE
Chart Trader + $149.00
Inspector 45.00
Locksmith 5.0 75.00
Watson 35.00
ORIGIN SYSTEMS
Exodus: Ultima III $40.00
HARDWARE
JOYSTICKS AND
PADDLES
Hayes Joysticks . . . CALL
Kraft Joystick 40.00
Kraft Paddles 35.00
MODEMS
Apple Cat II $295.00
Apple Cat 212 580.00
Micromodem lie . . 259.00
(Works with all Apples)
PRINTER INTERFACES
Grappler + $125.00
Grappler/16K
buffer 199.00
Orange Interface . . 75.00
80 COLUMN CARDS
Ultraterm $279.00
Videoterm CALL
BLANK DISKS (box of 10)
Elephant SS/SD . . $22.00
Elephant SS/DD . . . 25.00
Maxell SS/DD 30.00
Verbatim SS/DD . . . 28.00
Disk File Box
(holds 60) 20.00
MISCELLANEOUS
HARDWARE
Alaska Card $99.00
Microsoft
Softcard 225.00
System Saver 65.00
PENGUIN
Bouncing Kamungas . . . $15 00
Comp. Graphics Sys 49.00
Coveted Mirror 15.00
Crime Wave 15.00
Graphics Magacian 42.00
Minit Man 15.00
Pensate 15.00
Pie Man 15.00
Quest 15.00
Short Cuts 28.00
Special Effects 28.00
Spy's Demise 15.00
Spy Strikes Back 15 .00
Thunderbombs 15.00
Transylvania 15.00
PHOENIX SOFTWARE
Masquerde $25.00
Sherwood Forest 25.00
SCREENPLAY
Ken Uston's Professional
Blackjack $49.00
SENSIBLE SOFTWARE
Bookends $99.00
Sensible Speller 99.00
SIERRA ON-LINE
Adv. #0 Mission
Asteroid $15.00
Adv. #1 Mystery
House 15.00
Adv. #2 Wizard & the
Princess 25.00
Adv. #3Cranston
Manor 25.00
Adv. #4 Ulysses 25.00
Adv. #5 Time Zone 70.00
Adv. #6 Dark Crystal .... 28.00
Dragon's Keep 21.00
Frogger 25.00
Learning W/Leeper 21.00
Mr. Cool 21.00
Quest for Tires 25.00
Sammy Lightfoot 21.00
Troll's Tale 21 .00
Ultima II 42.00
The Artist 60.00
Homeword 37.00
Screenwriter II 89.00
SILICON VALLEY SYSTEMS
Word Handler $45.00
List Handler 40.00
Spell Handler 45.00
The Handlers Pkg 99.00
SIR-TECH
Wizardry $35.00
Knight of Diamonds 25.00
Legacy of LLylgamyn . . . 28.00
Wiziprint 20.00
RISING SUN SOFTWARE
4200 PARK BLVD.
OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA 94602
(415) 482-3391
Ordering Information: We'll accept any form of payment — cash, personal check, money order, VISA/
MasterCard, or C O D. Send cash at your own risk. Add $2.00 for UPS shipping; $3.00 for Blue Label
Air. California residents add applicable sales tax. ALL orders shipped same day received. If we are out
of stock on a particular item we will include a special bonus with your order when shipped.
CALL TOLL FREE
800-321-7770 (outside California)
800-321-7771 (inside California)
SIRIUS
Critical Mass $28 00
Gamma Goblins 12 00
Gorgon 20 00
Gruds in Space 28 00
Orbitron 12.00
Repton 28 00
Type Attack 28 00
Wayout 28 00
SOFTWARE
ENTERTAINMENT
Electronic
Playground $20 00
Stellar 7 28 00
SOFTWARE PUBLISHING
PFS: File $95.00
PFS: Report 95 00
PFS: Graph 95.00
PFS: Write 95.00
(Specify for II or lie)
SPINNAKER
Alphabet Zoo $21.00
Delta Drawing 35.00
Face Maker 25.00
Kindercomp 21.00
Most Amazing Thing .... 28 00
Snooper Troops ea. 32.00
Story Machine 25.00
Trains 28.00
STRATEGIC SIMULATIONS
Bomb Alley $42 00
Broadsides 28.00
Carrier Force 42 00
Computer Ambush 42.00
Computer Baseball 28.00
Computer
Quarterback 28.00
Cosmic Balance ea. 28.00
Eagles 28.00
Fighter Command 42.00
Fortress 25.00
Galactic Adventures 42.00
Geopolitique 1990 28.00
Germany 1985 42.00
Knights of the Desert 28.00
North Atlantic '86 42.00
Prof. Tour Golf 28.00
RDF 1985 25.00
Ringside Seat 28.00
Tigers in the Snow 28.00
Warp Factor 28.00
STONEWARE
DB Master V.4 $279.00
SUB-LOGIC
Flight Simulator II $35.00
Night Mission Pinball 21.00
Saturn Navigator 25.00
Space Vikings 35.00
UTILICO SOFTWARE
Essential Data
Duplicator $60.00
ULTRASOFT
Mask of the Sun $28.00
Serpent's Star 28.00
VISICORP
VisiCalc $175.00
VisiCalc lie 175.00
VisiCalc Adv. Me 220.00
VisiFile 175.00
XEROX EDUCATION
Chivalry $35.00
Fat City 28.00
Old Ironsides 28.00
Stickybear ABC 28.00
Basketbounce 28.00
Bop 28.00
Numbers 28.00
Opposites 28.00
Shapes 28.00
Apple Mechanic's hi-res )
type routines and fonts are
usable in your programs
WITHOUT LICENSING
FEE. Just give Beagle Bros
credit on your disk and .
documentation. J
APPLE MECHANIC
HI-RES SHAPE EDITOR / TYPE FONT DISK
by BERT KERSEY
$29.50 Includes Peeks/Pokes Chart & Tip Book #5.
SHAPE EDITOR: Keyboard-draw hi-res shapes
foranimation in your Applesoft programs. Access &
create proportionally-spaced hi-res Typefaces with
each character re-definable as you want. Six fonts
are included on the disk. Excellent LISTable Apple-
soft demos show you how to animate graphics and
create professional-looking Charts and Graphs.
BYTE-ZAP: Rewrite any byte on a disk for repair
or alteration Load entire sectors on the screen for
inspection, Hex/Dec/Ascii displays and input. Edu-
cational experiments included for making trick file
names, restoring deleted files, changing DOS, etc.
MORE: Useful music, text and hi-res tricks for your
programs Clear educational documentation.
_ AppLE MEC||AN|C —
TYPEFACES
by BERT KERSEY
$20.00 Includes Peeks & Pokes Chart
26 NEW FONTS for use with Apple Mechanic
programs. Many different sizes and typestyles. both
ordinary and c5\rtistic. Every character— from A to
Z to "*" to "□"—of every typeface— from "Ace" to
"Zooloo" — is re-definable to suit your needs. All
typefaces are proportionally spaced for a more pro-
fessional appearance People do notice the difference1
BEAGLE MENU: Display only the file names you
want from your disks (for example, only Applesoft
or only Locked files) for fast
one-key cursor selection
DOS BOSS
DISK COMMAND EDITOR
by BERT KERSEY and JACK CASSIDY
^SILICON SALAD
-^gVH • INCLUDING TIP DISK #2
$24.00 Includes Peeks/Pokes Chart & Tip Book #2.
RENAME DOS COMMANDS & Error Mes
sages— "Catalog" can be "Cat"; "Syntax Error" can
be "Oops" or almost anything you want it to be
PROTECT YOUR PROGRAMS. An unautho-
rized Save-attempt can produce a "Not Copyable"
message, or any message you want. Also easy List-
Prevention and other useful Apple tips and tricks.
Plus one-key program-execution from catalog.
CUSTOMIZE DOS. Change the catalog Disk
Volume heading to your message or title. Omit or
alter catalog file codes. Fascinating documentation,
tips and educational Apple experiments
ANYONE USING YOUR DISKS (booted or
not) will be using DOS the way YOU designed it.
by BERT KERSEY and MARK SIMONSEN
GOTO your
Apple Software
Store for Beagle Bros
products. If he is out of a
particular disk, get on his
case. He can have any
Beagle Bros disk for you
within a couple of days by phoning I
ANY Apple Software Distributor.
RUSH the following disks by First Class Mail —
10 LIST: LIST: LIST: FOR ZZ PEEK(175)+PEEK
(176)*256+36 TO 3072: POKE ZZ.216: NEXT
20 FOR XXX 1 TO 2: POKE-16299,0: POKE
-16300,0: XXX 1: NEXT: REM Experiment
with different length variable names.
BEAGLE BAG
12 APPLE GAMES ON ONE DISK
by BERT KERSEY
$29.50: Includes Peeks & Pokes Chart ^.
COMPARE BEAGLE BAG with any single-
game Locked-Up disk on the market today.
^J^i All 12 games are a blast, the price is a bar-
%f L gain, the instructions are crystal clear, and
the disk is COPYABLE You can even
change the programs or list them to learn
)_Jx^ programming tricks by seeing how they work.
TWELVE GAMES from the Applesoft Ace, Bert
Kersey— TextTram, Wowzo, Magic Pack, Buzz-
word, Slippery Digits, and many many more...
EXCELLENT REVIEWS-See Jan-83 Softalk.
p 148 Beagle Menu too: see Typefaces description
□ Apple Mechanic
□ AM Typefaces .
□ Beagle BASIC
$3950
□ Frame-Up
$29 50
29 50
□ GPLE
49 95
20.00
□ ProntoDOS
29 50
29 50
□ Silicon Salad .
. . 24 95
34.95
□ Tip Disk 1*1
20 00
29 50
□ Utility City
29 50
24.00
□
34 95
□ ADD ME to mailing list
29 50
□ ALREADY ON
mail list
□ Flex Type . . .
AT YOUR APPLE DEALER NOW!
Or order directly from Beagle Bros —
Visa MasterCard or COD. call TOLL-FREE
Orders only / ALL 50 STATES / 24 Hours a Day
1 -800-2 2 7-3800 ext. 1 eo?
OR mail U S Check. Money-Order or Visa MC»
to BEAGLE BROS, 8th Floor
4315 SIERRA VISTA. SAN DIEGO. CA 92103
Ailri SI 50 Fust Class Shipping Any-Si*e Order
Overseas add S4 00 COD add S3 00 Calilornia add 6°o
ALL ORDERS SHIPPED IMMEDIATELY
4315 SIERRA VISTA / SAN DIEGO, CA 92103
619-296-6400
ALL BEAGLE DISKS ARE
UNLOCKED, COPYABLE
AND COMPATIBLE WITH
APPLE II, 11+ AND He.*
(Don't Settle for Less!)
•DISKQUIK requires Apple lie.
"APPLE" is a Registered Trade Mark of You-Know-Who
$24.95: Includes Peeks/Pokes AND Commands Charts
MANY MINI-UTILITIES: Disk Scanner finds
bad disk sectors, Key-Clicker adds subtle sound as
you type, DOS-Killer adds two tracks of space to
your disks. 2-Track Cat allows up to 210 file names
per disk, Program Splitter makes room tor hi-res pix
with large Applesoft programs, Text Imprinter trans-
fers text to the hi-res screen, OnerrTell Me prints the
appropriate error message but continues program
execution, Text Screen Formatter converts text
layouts into Print statements , plus much more
Apple wizardry from the boys at Beagle Bros.
MORE TIPS ON DISK: Including fantastic pro-
gramming tricks from Beagle Bros Tip Books 5, 6
and 7, plus programs from Tips/Tricks Chart #1.
TWO-LINERS TOO: From our customers around
the world — and elsewhere. Little mind-blowers that
will teach your old Apple some new tricks!
TIP DISK #1
100 TIP BOOK TIPS ON DISK
by BERT KERSEY (
$20.00: Includes Peeks & Pokes Chart
100 LISTABLE PROGRAMS from Beagle
Bros Tip Books 1-4. Make your Apple do things it's
never done1 All 100 programs are LISTable and
changeable for Apple experimentation.
COMMAND CHART INCLUDED: Free with
each Tip Disk; an 1 1 x 17 poster of all Applesoft.
Integer Basic & DOS Commands with Descriptions'
EARLY
MODEM
FLEX TYPE
(FORMERLY "FLEX TEXT")
VARIABLE-WIDTH HI-RES TEXT UTILITY
by MARK SIMONSEN
$29.50: Includes Peeks & Pokes Chart
PRINT VARIABLE-WIDTH TEXT on both hi
res screens with normal Applesoft commands
(including HTAB 1-70). Normal, expanded & com-
pressed text with no extra hardware. (70-column
text requires a monochrome monitor, not a tv)
ADD GRAPHICS TO TEXT or add Text to hires
graphics Run your existing Applesoft programs
under Flex Type control. Fast, easy to use, and
Compatible with GPLE and Double-Take
DOS TOOL KIT" font compatibility, or use the
supplied Flex Type typefaces Select up to 9 fonts
with control-key commands A text character editor
lets you redesign any Apple text character.
FRAME-UP
FAST APPLE DISPLAY UTILITY
by TOM WEISHAAR
$29.50: Includes Peeks & Pokes Chart
PROFESSIONAL PRESENTATIONS: Turn
your existing Hi-Res, Lo-Res and Text frames into
attractive Apple "slide shows". FAST hi-res loads in
2'/?-secondsl Paddle or Keyboard-advance frames.
UNATTENDED SHOWS are optional, with each
picture arranged and pre-programmed to display
on the screen from 1 to 99 seconds Custom Text
Screen Editor lets you create black-and-white text
"slides" and add type "live" from the keyboard during
shows. Mail copies of presentations on disk to your
friends and associates (or home to Mom!).
& GPLE
GLOBAL PROGRAM LINE EDITOR
by NEIL KONZEN
$49.95: Includes Peeks/Pokes Chart & Tip Book #7.
A CLASSIC APPLE PROGRAM EDITOR
GPLE lets you edit Applesoft program lines FAST
without awkward cursor-tracing and "escape editing".
INSERT & DELETE: GPLE works like a word
processor for Applesoft program lines. You make
changes instantly by lumping the cursor to the
change point and inserting or deleting text. No need
to trace to the end of a line before hitting Return
GLOBAL SEARCH & REPLACE: Find any
word or variable in your programs, FAST. For
example, find all lines containing a GOSUB, or edit
or delete all lines with REM statements, or all occur-
rences of any variable Replace any variable, word
or character with any other. For example, change all
X's to ABC's, or all "Horse" strings to "Cow"
80-COLUMN COMPATIBILITY: All edit & glo-
bal features support Apple Me 80-column cards and
most 80-column cards on any Apple lie. 11+ or II.
DEFINABLE ESC FUNCTIONS: Define ESC
plus any key to perform any task. For example.
ESC-1 can catalog drive 1 , ESC-L can do a "HOME:
LIST", ESC-N could type an entire subroutine..
Anything you want, whenever you want.
GPLE DOS MOVER: Move DOS and GPLE to
Language Card (or lie upper 16K) for an EXTRA
10,000 Bytes (10K) of programmable memory.
Plus APPLE TIP BOOK #7: Learn more about
your Apple! Includes all new GPLE tips and tricks.
UTILITY CITY
21 PROGRAMMING UTILITIES
by BERT KERSEY
$29.50: Includes Peeks/Pokes Chart & Tip Book #3
LIST FORMATTER prints each program state-
ment on a new line. Loops indented with printer
Page Breaks. A great Applesoft program de-bugger
MULTI-COLUMN CATALOGS, with or without
sector and file codes. Organize your disk library.
INVISIBLE and trick catalog file names. Invisible
functioning commands in Applesoft programs too.
MUCH MORE: 21 utilities, including auto-post
Run-number & Date in programs, alphabetize/store
info on disk, convert dec to hex or Int to FP, protect
and append programs, dump text to printer...
LEARN PROGRAMMING: List-able programs
and informative documentation. Includes Tip Book
#3. Hours of good reading & Applesoft experiments.
ALPHA PLOT
HI-RES GRAPHICS/TEXT UTILITY
by BERT KERSEY and JACK CASSIDY
$39.50: Includes Peeks/Pokes Chart & Tip Book #4.
DRAW IN HI-RES on both Apple "pages" using
easy keyboard commands OR paddles/joystick.
Pre-view lines before plotting. Solid or mixed colors
& Reverse (background-opposite) drawing. FAST
one-keystroke circles, boxes & ellipses, filled or out-
lined. Add text for graphs & charts. All pix Save-able
to disk, to be called from your Applesoft programs.
COMPRESS HI-RES DATA to 1/3 disk space
(average) allowing more hi-res pictures per disk.
MANIPULATE IMAGES: Superimpose any two
images, or RE-LOCATE any rectangular section of
any drawing anywhere on either hi-res page.
HI-RES TYPE: Add text to your pictures with
adjustable character-size and large-character color
Type anywhere with no HtabA/tab limits Type
sideways too, for graphs. Includes Tip Book #4.
4315 SIERRA VISTA / SAN DIEGO, CA 92103
619-296-6400
ALL BEAGLE DISKS ARE
UNLOCKED, COPYABLE
AND COMPATIBLE WITH
APPLE II, 11+ AND lie.*
(Don't Settle for Less!)
* DISKQUIK requires Apple lie
"APPLE" is a Registered Trade Mark of You-Know-Who
BEAGLE BASIC
APPLESOFT ENHANCER
by MARK SIMONSEN
$34.95: Includes Peeks/Pokes Chart & Tip Book #6.
Requires Apple lie (OR 11/11+ with RAM Card)
RENAME ANY APPLESOFT COMMAND or
Error Message to anything you want. For program
clarification, encryption/protection or even foreign
translation. Plus add optional NEW COMMANDS:
ELSE follows If-Then statements, like this:
IF X=2 THEN PRINT "YES": ELSE PRINT "NO"
HSCRN reads color of any hi-res dot for collision
testing. SWAP X,Y exchanges 2 variables' values.
New TONE command writes music with no messy
pokes & calls SCRL scrolls text in either direction
TXT2 lets Text Page 2 act exactly like Page 1.
PLUS: GOTO & GOSUB may precede variables,
as in "GOSUB FIX" or "GOTO 4+X". Escape-mode
indicated by special ESC CURSOR. Replace awk-
ward Graphics screen-switch pokes with 1-word
commands. Change ctrl-G Beep to any tone.
INVERSE REMS tool All GPLE compatible.
1 FOR S768 TO 773: READ A:
POKE S.A; NEXT. POKE 232,0:
POKE 233,3: DATA 1,0,4,0,5,0
2 HGR2: FOR R = 0 TO 192: ROT fl:
SCALE-96: XDRAW 1 AT 140,95:
SCALE = 30: XDRAW 1 AT 140,95:
S=PEEK(49200): NEXT: RUN
4* DISKQUIK
W DISK DRIVE EMULATOR
DISK DRIVE EMULATOR
by HARRY BRUCE and GENE HITE
$29.50 Includes Peeks & Pokes Chart
Requires Apple lie with Extended 80-column Card
ACTS LIKE A DISK DRIVE in Slot 3. but much
faster, quieter, more reliable and $350+ cheaper1
En|oy the benefits of a 2nd (or 3rd or 4th ) drive at
less than 1/10th the price. Catalogs normally with
"CATALOG, S3" command Load & Save any kind
of files into RAM with normal DOS commands
SILENT AND FAST: Since no moving parts are
involved. DiskQuik operates silently and at super-
high speeds See it to believe it Your Apple lie's
Extended 80-column Card (required) can hold
about half the amount of data as a 5 V floppy disk1
MANY USES: For example, auto-load often-used
files like FID etc , etc., into RAM when you boot up,
so they are always available when you need them
Copy files from RAM onto disk and vice versa, just
as if a disk drive were connected to slot #3
FRIENDLY & COMPATIBLE with 80 column
display, GPLE, ProntoDOS, and all normal Apple-
soft and DOS commands and procedures Will not
interfere with Apple lie "Double Hi-Res" graphics
GOTO any Software Store for Beagle ESroj
if they are out of a particular disk,
get on the stick, and^a
619-296-6400 p
Distribi
every
our di:
to Uncle
are unprot
floppies wj
everywhe*
~~ DOUBLE-TAKE
2-WAY-SCROLL/MULTIPLE UTILITY
by MARK SIMONSEN
$34.95: Includes Peeks/Pokes AND Tips/Tricks Charts
2-WAY SCROLLING: Listings & Catalogs scroll
Up AND Down, making file names and program
lines much easier to access Change the Catalog or
List scroll-direction at will, with Apple's Arrow keys
80-COLUMN COMPATIBLE: All features sup
port lie and most other 80-column cards.
BETTER LIST FORMAT: Each program state-
ment lists on a new line for FAST program tracing &
de-bugging. Printer-compatible; any column-width
VARIABLE-DISPLAY: Displays all of a pro-
gram's strings and variables with current values
CROSS-REFERENCE: Sorts and displays line
numbers where each variable & string appears
AUTO-LINE-NUMBER. Hex/Dec Converter, bet-
ter Renumber/Append, Program Stats, Change
Cursor, Space-On-Disk GPLE/Pronto compatible
□ Alpha Plot S39 50
□ Apple Mechanic . . . 29.50
□ AM Typefaces .... 2000
□ Beagle Bag 29.50
□ Beagle BASIC .... 34.95
□ DiskQuik 29 50
□ DOS Boss 24.00
□ Double-Take 34.95
□ Flex Type 29.50
□ Frame-Up S29 50
□ GPLE 49 95
□ ProntoDOS 29 50
□ Silicon Salad .... 2495
□ Tip Disk #1 20 00
□ Utility City 29 50
□
□ ADD ME to mailing list
□ ALREADY ON mail list
AT YOUR APPLE DEALER NOW!
Or order directly from Beagle Bros—
PRONTODOS
HIGH-SPEED DOS / DOS-MOVE UTILITY
by TOM WEISHAAR
$29.50: Includes Peeks & Pokes Chart
TRIPLES THE SPEED of disk access and frees
10,000 bytes of extra memory by moving DOS
Function Normal Pronto
BLOAD HI-RES IMAGE 10 sec. 3 sec.
LOAD 60-SECTOR PROGRAM ... 16 sec. 4 sec.
SAVE 60-SECTOR PROGRAM ... 24 sec. 9 sec.
BLOAD LANGUAGE CARD 13 sec 4 sec.
(Text Files: No Change)
Boot the Pronto disk or your updated disks, created
with the normal INIT command. Compatible with all I < Visa/MasterCard or COD. call TOLL-FREE
DOS Commands, GPLE, Double-Take, DOS Boss, | < Orders only / ALL 50 STATES / 24 Hours a Day
DiskQuik and almost all unprotected programs m^M OZ\/\ 00/\S\
MOVE DOS to your Language Card, RAM Card, ■£ 1"800-ZZ7-3o00 ext. 1607
or standard Apple lie upper 16K, freeing up 10,000
EXTRA BYTES of memory for your programs
15 EXTRA SECTORS per disk. Catalog Free-
Space displayed every time you catalog a disk
TYPE-COMMAND ("TYPE filename") prints con-
tents of sequential Text Files on screen or printer.
OR mail U S Check. Money-Order or Visa MC«
to BEAGLE BROS 7th Floor
4315 SIERRA VISTA. SAN DIEGO. CA 92103
Add S1 50 First Class Shipping Any-Size Ordor
Overseas add S4 00 COD add S3 00 California add 6"..
ALL ORDERS SHIPPED IMMEDIATELY
ISCRG
SWITCH-A-SLOT
The SWITCH-A-SLOT is an expansion chassis, which
allows theusertopluginuptofourpenpheralcardsatone
time One of these cards is selected for use, and only that
card draws power.
This product is especially useful where the software
requires the printer to be in a particular slot, and the user
wishes to choose between two or more printers.
• Allows up to four peripheral cards to be plugged into one
peripheral slot
• User selects desired card by front panel rotary switch
• Only selected card draws power
• Plugs into any peripheral slot,
• Saves wear and tear on delicate connectors
• 18" cable connects Switch-a-slot to computer
New— resistive terminations lor better response
$179.50
V
36 "Cable $189.50
SWITCH-A-SLOT and EXTEND- A-SLOT work
well with all slow to medium speed cards,
such as Modems, Printers, Clock, 80 Column,
Music, etc. They are not recommended for
high speed data transfer devices such as disk
drive controllers, alternate processor, and
memory cards. These products maybe incom-
patible with some alternate processor cards.
EXTEND-A-SLOT
The EXTEND-A-SLOT brings a slot outside your
APPLE1", allowing an easy change of cards The 18" flex
cable is long enough to allow placement of the card in a
convenient location The high quality connectors are
gold plated for reliability.
The perfect accessory for:
Owners of large numbers of I/O expansion cards —
keep your frequently used cards installed Use the
EXTEND-A-SLOT for the others
Technicians— easy access to test points on accessory
cards under actual operating conditions
Experimenters— make easy changes to cards while
card is installed
EASY TO USE— just plug it in as you would any
expansion card, then plug your card in When you want to
change cards, do it easily outside the computer, without
the wear and tear on the computer expansion slot
$34.95
NEW PRODUCT-
quikLoader
Designed by Jim Sather
SPEED
The quikLoader is the fastest way to load programs.
BAR NONE! Applesoft, Integer, or machine language
programs can be loaded in fractions of a second.
More importantly, DOS is instantly loaded every time
the computer is turned on. Integer is even loaded in
the language card. This process takes less than a
second, saving valuabletimeThe quikLoader operat-
ing system can keep track of over 250 programs
stored in PROMs (Programmable Read Only Memory).
The user simply transfers any of these programs to
PROM using the instructions packed with the unit,
and any PROM programmer, or we will provide this
service.
CONVENIENCE
How many times have you started to work with a
frequently used program, only to find that you have
misplaced the disk, or worse, had the disk damaged,
or the dreaded "I/O ERROR" message flash on the
screen. With the quikLoader, these nightmares can
be a thing of the past. Frequently used programs are
available instantly when you need them, without
having to look for the disk, or hoping that the lengthy
disk loading procedure goes smoothly. If you do need
to use standard disks, the quikLoader even speeds up
that process. Forexample. to catalog a disk, |ust press
ctrl-C Reset. To run the "HELLO" program, press crtl-
H Reset Other "one-key" commands include entering
the monitor, booting the disk, calling up the mini-
assembler, etc. The major difference between the
quikLoader and the other ROM cards is the complete
operating system (in PROM). This enables you to get
the quikLoader catalog on the screen (by pressing
ctrl-Q Reset), allowing you to see what programs are
available Loading or running of the desired program
requires one keypress. Program parameters, such as
starting address and length of machine language
programs can be seen on the catalog screen, if
desired.
VERSATILE
The quikLoader will accept any of the popular PROMS
available on the market. 2716. 2732, 2764, 27128
and 27256. These types may be freely intermixed on
the card. Long programs can take up more than one
PROM, or several short prpgrams may be stored on
one PROM, The quikLoader operating system even
handles multiple cards, so you can easily double or
triple the amount of PROM memory available. The
ultimate memory capacity of one card is 256K, so
many frequently used programs and utilities can be
stored. We even start your library of programs with
the most popular utilities on the card, FID and
COPYA. Now, if you have to copy a disk, you don't
have to search for the master disk. You can start
copying within 3 seconds after turning on the
computer.
INCREASED DISK CAPACITY
Since DOS is loaded from the quikLoader every time
the computer is turned on. it is not necessary to take
up valuable disk space with DOS. This will give you
more than 10% additional space for programs and
data on your disks.
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
The quikLoader plugs into any slot of the APPLE ] (+
or He. If used in a ) [+, a slightly modified 1 6K
memory card is required in slot 0. A disk drive is
required to save data.
$179.50
DOS. INTEGER BASIC, FID and COPYA are copyrighted programs of APPLE
COMPUTER, INC. licensed to Southern California Research Group to
distribute for use only in combination with quikLoader
NOW AVAILABLE: Beagle Bros, double-take lor
quikLoader. More programs coming toon.
Paddle-Adapple
GAME I/O ADAPTOR and EXTENDER
^ i 6 Psrjrjle ArJspple
Works with all Apple compatible joysticks, paddles and
other I/O devices
Select one of two devices or .
Use 4 paddles simultaneously
Unique "Jumpers" socket allows you to configure to
meet your needs
BPI'" users can have BPI'" device and paddles plugged in
simultaneously (Paddle-Adapple and Paddle-Adapple
Combo only)
Gives you four push-button inputs
Supports shift key modification.
Exchange X & Y |oystick axis.
Small and compact — adheres to computer with
supplied foam tape
All Strobes, annunciators and power available on all 16
pin connectors
^upphedwit^^8^cable^^^^
The Paddle-Adapple has two 16 pin sockets
The Paddle-Adapple "D" works with the subminiature D
connectors.
The Paddle-Adapple Combo has one 1 6 pin socket and
one subminiature D connector.
$29.95
D MAnual controller
This hardware product gives the user complete control over all I/O
functions in the range SCOOO through SCOFF For example, you
may switch between text and graphics: hi-res and low-res; turn
disk drive on and oH, etc
D MAnual controller allows all this while programs are running.
Commands can be issued (via push-buttons) m the middle of a
program, and the desired result occurs immediately The process
used (known as CYCLE STEALING} allows immediate execution of
these commands without interfering with the normal operation of
the program The card is slot independent, and is connected to a
control panel by a four foot cable
$89.50
See us at Chicago Userfest, May 3-6, and Denver Softwest, May 22-24
SIX MONTH WARRANTY • TEN DAY RETURN PRIVILEGE Available at your local dealer or direct from:
TOLL-FREE ORDER LINES SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA RESEARCH GROUP
in CA (800) 821-0774 Post Office Box 2231 -S Add $2.50 for shipping,
(800) 635-8310 Goleta, CA 93118
all other states (Including AK. HI. VI. & PR)
Information & technical questions (805) 685-1931
$5.00 outside U.S.A. &
(805) 685-1931 Canada, CA add tax.
VISA, MASTERCARD accepted apple is a traaemark ot apple computer. inc
1AY 1984
151
Mac Sits Junior in the Corner
Mac is rather upset with Lisa. Seems he
thinks she's been two-timing him . . .
something about appearing at Maxwell's Apple
with some character named Unix.
What? Mac'n'Lisa's not a soap opera? Real-
ly must change that title. How does 32-Bit
sound? (Just don't drop the "3," folks.
Wouldn't be good to be known as a two-bit
editor.)
Actually, Mac should be pretty happy. He's
been absolutely creaming the competition. Of
course, when the press sets up as your competi-
tion a sawed-off chunk of metal depending on
its father's reputation, with a keyboard that
looks like someone put it together with parts
from a chewing gum box, it's no real achieve-
ment to knock its socks off.
Seriously, though, this whole routine of the
press— and here we're speaking of the popular
press, meaning Newsweek, Time, local
newspapers, and the like— setting up the PCjr as
Mac's competition is ... a little odd. In terms
of both capabilities and price, the reasonable
comparison is between Mac and the full-size
PC. In fact, the principal reason the press is
stacking Mac up against Junior is that the two
machines were introduced at approximately the
same time.
There is, however, a soupcon of sense in
comparing Junior with Mac: Both machines
have as one of their marketing targets the home
user. Junior, which has been highly— and
somewhat erroneously— touted as being com-
patible with the full-size PC, is expected to be
used widely by businesspeople working at
home. Which is amusing, considering that the
business types have been passing up Junior
because it— and its keyboard— looks (and feels)
like a toy. On the other hand, early indications
are that the Fortune 500 types— a market that
Apple professes Mac is not pursuing at this
time— are giving Mac serious consideration.
They're even buying some. Peat, Marwick,
Mitchell and Company, a nationwide account-
ing firm (you can't get any more pin-striped
than that), has ordered 3,500 machines;
Businessland (guess what market they concen-
trate on) is adding Mac and Lisa to its catalog,
as is Genra; and it looks as though Com-
puterLand and Sears (the two prime retailers of
the IBM PC) may be joining the Mac camp.
If you haven't guessed it by now, Mac is
selling like hot cakes, Junior is selling like flop
cakes. Many Mac dealers are quoting four-
month delivery times and have back orders of
close to a hundred machines, which makes Ap-
ple's projected first-year sales of 350,000 to
half a million look not only possible, but likely.
(Especially considering that those early sales
are coming in the face of little currently
available software, no second disk, and only
128K of memory.) Mac's popularity is already
starting to buoy Lisa sales, and the next thing
the press is going to start arguing is whether
Mac can successfully tackle the PC itself. A
silly question, because it's already doing just
that.
Some of the students who've been fortunate
enough to purchase Macs under Apple's Apple
University Consortium plan, which lets a col-
lege purchase Macs in volume at deep discounts
for resale to their students (or faculty), have
been causing a big brouhaha by reselling the
machines at a healthy profit. Some of the buyers
have themselves been retailers. It's not so much
that the machines purchased through the univer-
sity connection are necessarily cheaper than the
dealers can get them from Apple, just that they
are available now. Both Apple and the colleges
are highly unimpressed with this ad hoc adven-
ture in capitalism, so it's likely that the practice
will at least go underground, if it can't be
stopped altogether.
Tech Corner. Don't say you weren't warned:
Last month's Tech Corner started with the
caveat: for pioneers only— no calls if it doesn't
work.
Ah, such prescience. If you tried it — making a
cable to connect your Mac to a standard mo-
dem— you by now know that ... it didn't
work. Seems the polarity of the data was re-
versed: You want to pick off pins 5 and 9 from
the Mac phone connector, not pins 4 and 8 as in-
dicated. With that done, the cable will work just
fine— we actually got off our duffs and built
one, so we know whereof we speak. Incidental-
ly, if you've purchased one of the new Apple
modems, you can find a Mac -to- Apple modem
cable diagram in the May issue of ST. Mac, Sof-
talk's sister publication dedicated to Mac
and Lisa.
While we're on the subject of other publica-
tions about Mac, there are four books already
out. From Doug Clapp has come Macintosh!
Complete, published by none other than Softalk
Books, and from Cary Lu, via Microsoft Press,
The Apple Macintosh Book, dilithium Press has
chipped in with Presenting the Mac, by Merl
Miller and Mary Myers, and Edward Connolly
and Philip Lieberman have put together In-
troducing the Apple Macintosh, from Howard
W. Sams. None of the books is particularly
technical, but all should appease a heavy Mac
attack for at least a while. Clapp's book is of
course our favorite, but then we're prejudiced.
Maybe. Lu's is also excellent, though not quite
as witty. Buy all four and decide for yourself. JM
Go From
.4
Screen to Faper
She Touch of^
ai ~ Button! v"
t.hle ^ printer ^^^een
m Apple* - compare % sy printouts °f A^
Tne new ApPie NLYwaytogetfast. > and
ANY program
screen - te> > , a white. ..jook-aWke'
a button- ^e"', ructions, OWJ, screen i
^"^nSleCnt printer card.
• T??"^°rS column cards printers,
8 Biancnard Hoad
1 Tcow** products ,na
Subsidiary of Comp
^ , rail ToU ^ee
a dip switch t your local
.-App«e Compote.
..-D.g'ta' "esea'c
directly
>ney-
post-
tional
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lUse/pnnt
face
19.
<0 ^ s<v
MAY 1984
153
SOFTCARD
Symposium!
by Greg TSbbettsI
...... ....... „t
......Mem* xi\ C:.*,: ==
/T3.5 C6 g R10» C16 CIS
IMIMIMMMMMMiMMIl
The File-Related BDOS Functions
Welcome to the May edition of Softcard Symposium. In March's col-
umn, we set the stage for the examination of the final set of BDOS func-
tion calls by discussing the structure of disk-file access under CP/M. We
are now, therefore, ready to proceed with the BDOS functions related to
the handling of disk files. In February's column we displayed all twenty-
five of the disk functions and then separated out those that were not file-
related. This month, we'll display only the sixteen file-related functions,
as shown in figure 1. Note that they are not in numerical order. Also,
since most of those functions are simple to implement, we'll hold off on
showing the subroutine library additions until our discussion is complete.
The first function in our list is set DMA address:
BDOS function no:
Function name:
Function purpose:
Entry parameters:
Exit parameters:
26
Set DMA address
Set the memory address for disk I/O
[C] = 1AH
[DE] = DMA address
none
To refresh our memories (no pun intended), the term DMA stands for
direct memory access. It usually describes hardware that can fill memory
with data from some outside source (usually a disk) or take data direcdy
from memory and send it to an outside source — all this without involving
the processor at all. The hardware technicalities of this are beyond the
scope of this column; suffice it to say that DMA hardware allows the
processor to be more efficient, since it frees the processor to carry on
other activities during disk or peripheral accesses.
In systems without DMA hardware, the term DMA has no formal
meaning. However, it has taken on a slang meaning in CP/M that has,
over time, acquired the status of a permanent definition. DMA in CP/M
has come to mean the starting address of the block of memory that will be
filled with data from disk, or from which data is taken to be written to
disk. Recognize that the DMA address is the single address at which this
process will start. The other 127 addresses within this block of memory
are unimportant. CP/M (BDOS and BIOS) will take care of any incre-
menting of addresses necessary to fill the entire block.
BDOS keeps track of the current DMA address using a memory loca-
tion inside itself. When the system is booted, the DMA address is ini-
tialized to an address of 0080H (the location of the default buffer in the
system data page). The DMA address is changed almost constantiy by
the CCP and other utility programs as they fdl and copy memory with
disk reads and writes. However, it is usually returned to the default loca-
tion (0080H) when a program exits, and it is always returned there at the
completion of any operation of the CCP.
In normal operation, function 26 is only used when reading and writ-
ing large blocks of data— such as are present when a fde (or large portion
of a fde) is being moved between memory and the disk. The standard
practice in such cases is to initialize the DMA address to the starting ad-
dress of your memory buffer and save it. Then, at the completion of each
successful disk read or write, the old address is restored, 128 bytes are
added to increment it beyond the last data used, and function 26 is called
to inform BDOS. This is required no matter which form of access-
random or sequential— is being used.
The alternate method of reading or writing large data blocks is to use
the default DMA buffer (0080H) for all reads and writes and simply to
move the data between the default DMA buffer and your own memory
buffer 128 bytes at a time. But because of the additional work this
scheme requires of the processor (in moving all this data), this method is
much less efficient.
In your own programming, you must always be aware of the current
DMA location. Since there's no function to inform you of the current
location, it's always advisable to take the safe route — explicitly setting
the DMA address before performing disk access and then keeping track
of its location as you alter it. So long as your program is running without
interruption, the DMA address will be altered only if your program calls
function 26. No other action of BDOS or your program can reset it.
Function Name
Operation
26. Set DMA address
17. Search first
18. Search next
22. Make file
1 9. Delete file
23. Rename file
30. Set attributes
15. Open file
16. Close file
20. Read sequential
21 . Write sequential
33.
34.
40.
35.
36.
Read random
Write random
Write random
with zero fill
Compute size
Set random rec.
Establishes the starting address in memory
from which the next record will be written
to disk or to which the next sector will be
read from disk
Finds a directory entry corresponding to
the specified FCB
Finds subsequent entries corresponding to
the specified FCB
Creates a new disk file by creating a
directory entry corresponding to the
specified FCB
Deactivates all directory entries
corresponding to the specified FCB
Changes the name of all directory entries
corresponding to the first sixteen bytes of
the FCB to the name contained in the
second sixteen bytes of the FCB
Sets the requested attribute (SYS-DIR
and R/O-R/W) for a particular file (also
changes any other parity bits requested)
Activates an FCB for the disk file
Deactivates an FCB for a previously open
disk file
Obtains one record from the file identified
by the activated FCB— record is CR from
extent EX
Sends one record to the file identified by
the activated FCB— record is CR in extent
EX
Obtains one record from the file identified
by the activated FCB— record is RL-RH
Sends one record to the file identified by
the activated FCB— record is RL-RH
Essentially equivalent to function 34,
except that unallocated blocks are filled
with 0s prior to the write
Obtains a value that is 1 beyond the highest
numbered record in the file
Computes the random record number
and sets it in RL-RH in the FCB for the
current values of EX and CR in the FCB
Figure 1. File-related disk functions.
154
MAY 1984
The next function we'll examine is search for first:
BDOS function no:
Function name:
Function purpose:
Entry parameters:
Exit parameters:
17
Search for first
Find the first directory entry matching
the specified FCB
[C] = 11H
[DE] = FCB address
[A] = directory code
This function is the means by which the directory is examined. It is
used by the CCP and by any CP/M program that searches for directory
entries. In response to this call, BDOS scans the directory of a disk,
starting with the first directory sector. It examines each entry in the di-
rectory to find a match with the FCB whose address is contained in the
[DE] register pair. (As we continue, refer to the March column for a
description of the FCB and its fields.)
The DR field of the FCB is not used for matching purposes, but in-
stead determines which disk is to be searched. A drive number of from 1
to 16 (drives A through P) causes that disk to be logged in and searched.
If no drive is specified (a DR field value of 0), the currently logged disk
is searched.
A match occurs when bytes 1 through 12 (the F1-F8, T1-T3, and EX
fields) and byte 14 (DM) of the directory entry are equal to the same
bytes in the FCB. BDOS continues comparing entries to the FCB until a
match is found or until there are no more entries to be compared. Note
that byte 13 (SI) is not used for comparison purposes and that BDOS
automatically zeros the DM field of your FCB during this function. A
question mark in any character position of the F1-F8, T1-T3, or EX
fields in your FCB will cause an automatic match with any value in that
same position in the directory entry.
Normally, only active (nondeleted) directory entries that are in the
current user area will be matched; however, a question mark in byte 0 of
your FCB (the DR field) will remove these restrictions. Setting DR to a
question mark also disables the auto disk select function and specifies
that only the currently logged drive is eligible to be searched. Further,
when DR contains a question mark, the DM field is not set to 0. Using
the wildcard character in DR, then, has the effect of identifying any di-
rectory entry that matches the remaining fields, including deleted files
and files in any user area. This capability can be of special value in pro-
grams that create disk usage maps for the currently logged drive.
Function 17 returns a OFFH in register [AJ if no match was made
between your FCB and any directory entry. If there was a match, how-
ever, BDOS returns a value from 0 to 3, which is called a directory code.
The directory code is more than just an indication that a match occurred.
It is used to access the actual directory information in the matched entry.
When a match is made, BDOS places the logical directory sector (128
bytes) in which the entry was found at the current DMA address. The di-
rectory code is the relative position of the directory entry within that
logical sector— there are four entries in each sector and four possible di-
rectory code values. A code of 0 indicates the first entry, a 1 means the
second entry, and so on. Since each directory entry is thirty-two bytes
long, it is relatively simple to locate the entry; you just multiply the di-
rectory code by 32 and add the result to the current DMA address. At
that point, any information within the entry can be extracted and put to use.
The next function to look at is search for next:
BDOS function no:
Function name:
Function purpose:
Entry parameters:
Exit parameters:
18
Search for next
Find any subsequent directory entry
matching the FCB
[C] = 12H
[DE] = FCB address
[A] = directory code
This function is identical to search for first except that BDOS starts
with the directory sector in which the last match was found and continues
to search for further matches. As a result, the two functions are always
used in combination— function 17 to have BDOS start at the beginning of
the directory (or find a single file), and function 18 to continue to search
for additional files matching the FCB.
Most general-purpose directory programs use a file reference con-
sisting entirely of wildcard characters (???????????), with EX equal to 0.
In this way, a match is made with the first extent of any file encountered.
Continuing the search with function 18 allows a complete list of all active
files in a given user area to be made. Directory programs that calculate
file space used can set EX to a question mark as well and then search for
all extents of each file. When the list is complete, the extent number and
the RC field of the final extent can be used to calculate the record count
for each file.
The next function is makefile:
BDOS function no: 22
Function name: Make file
Function purpose: Create a new directory entry from FCB
Entry parameters: [C] = 16H
[DE] = FCB address
Exit parameters: [A] = directory code
This function is used to create a new file on disk. Specifically, BDOS
uses the FCB, whose address is passed in the [DE] register pair, to create
a directory entry on the drive specified or on the logged drive if none is
specified. Since the directory entry is being created strictly from the
FCB, no wildcard characters (question marks) are allowed in the DR,
F1-F8, T1-T3, or EX fields for this function.
During the performance of this function, BDOS won't exclude dupli-
cate entries. Consequently, the programmer must make sure that the file
being created does not duplicate a file already in the directory of the disk.
To be absolutely safe, a delete-file function call can be made prior to the
make-file function call to ensure that any existing file with these at-
tributes is removed.
Finally, BDOS initializes all values in the new entry (and the FCB
used to create it) to those of an empty extent (EX=0, RC=0, and so
on). This process of filling in the FCB from the directory entry is iden-
tical to opening the file, so an open-file function call is not required when
the make file function is used. BDOS returns the directory code of from 0
to 3 in register [A] if the operation is successful, or a value of OFFH in
[A] if no more directory space remained on the disk.
The next function to examine is delete file:
BDOS function no:
Function name:
Function purpose:
Entry parameters:
Exit parameters:
19
Delete file
Deactivate the file named by the FCB
[C] = 13H
[DE] = FCB address
[A] = directory code
Although the name of this function is delete file, it does not delete the
file in the true sense of the word. Instead, it deactivates all extents of the
named file and returns the space they occupy to unallocated status. In this
way, the space is made available for new storage.
In response to this function, BDOS performs a search of the directory
of the drive specified in the FCB or of the logged drive if none is
specified. All directory entries that match the F1-F8 and T1-T3 fields of
the referenced FCB are deactivated. This is accomplished by setting the
first byte of each entry (the field containing the user number) to a value
of 0E5H. Such a value in this byte of any directory entry causes BDOS to
assume the entry is empty in any future access. As a result, BDOS won't
attempt to match these entries in any future directory searches and will
use them whenever new extents must be created.
The FCB used for function 19 may have wildcard characters in any of
the F1-F8 and T1-T3 character positions. This makes it possible to
delete groups of files with a single function call. The DR field, however,
may not contain a question mark character and must indicate either the
drive to be searched or the logged drive (DR=0). If the operation is suc-
cessful, the [A] register contains the standard directory code seen earlier.
If no file is found that corresponds to the referenced FCB, a value of
OFFH is returned in [A].
The next function we'll examine is rename file:
BDOS function no:
Function name:
Function purpose:
Entry parameters:
Exit parameters:
23
Rename file
Alter the name of a referenced file
[C] = 17H
[DE] = FCB address
[A] = directory code
This function is used to change the name (fields F1-F8 and T1-T3) of
a given file. To accomplish this, function 23 uses a special sort of FCB.
MAY 1984
WU I Al V
155
The first sixteen bytes of the FCB contain the file's current name, while
the second sixteen bytes contain the name your program is changing it to.
During the operation of this function, all extents in the directory that
match the current name fields in the FCB will be altered.
The DR field in the first sixteen bytes specifies the drive on which the
action is to take place, just as it has with previous functions. The DR
field in the second sixteen bytes is not used, however, and should be set
to 0 by your program. A successful rename returns the standard direc-
tory code in [A], while a OFFH is returned in [A] if no occurrence of the
original file could be found.
The next function to examine is set file attributes :
BDOS function no:
Function name:
Function purpose:
Entry parameters:
Exit parameters:
30
Set file attributes
Set R/O-R/W and DIR-SYS status
[C] = 1 EH
[DE] = FCB address
[A] = directory code
The set file attributes function is the means by which the read/only and
read/write attributes are set or cleared for a particular file. As we dis-
cussed last time, these attributes are controlled by the parity bits of the
filetype characters Tl and T2 respectively; bit 7 is set if the attributes are
active and reset if the attributes are inactive.
To use this function, your program simply creates an FCB (no
wildcard characters allowed), with the desired bits set or reset as appro-
priate, and invokes the function. BDOS will respond by searching the in-
dicated disk directory for matches with the specified FCB. The parity
bits of the characters, however, will not be used for matching purposes.
As each match is found, BDOS copies the parity bits of the F1-F8 and
T1-T3 fields into the directory entry from your FCB. Once again, a di-
rectory code is returned in [A] if the operation was successful, while a
OFFH is returned if the referenced file could not be found.
Note that the parity bits of any of the F1-F8 and T1-T3 characters
can be changed using this function. However, only the first four charac-
ters of the filename and the first two characters of the filetype should be
altered. Although the remaining five are currently undefined, they are
used by BDOS for matching purposes during directory searches. Conse-
quently, since standard utilities do not set them, the result of changing
these characters could be files that cannot be accessed using normal
methods.
The next function we'll examine is open file:
BDOS function no:
Function name:
Function purpose:
Entry parameters:
Exit parameters:
15
Open file
Activate the FCB for the named file
[C] = OFH
[DE] = FCB address
[A] = directory code
As we alluded to in examining the make file function, opening a file
involves activating an in-memory FCB describing it. Function 15,
therefore, first causes BDOS to attempt to find a directory entry on the
specified or logged disk that matches the F1-F8, T1-T3, and EX fields
of the referenced FCB. If a match is found, BDOS then activates the
FCB by filling in its missing information (DM, RC, and BA-BP). Once
this has been done, BDOS can access the file correctly using the now ac-
tive FCB.
Note that during the performance of this function the extent field of
the FCB is used for matching purposes, making it possible to open each
extent of a file individually. You'll recall from our discussion in the
March column that different extents of a file are almost like separate files
in themselves. Each extent must be opened before it can be accessed.
Under normal circumstances, BDOS itself takes care of closing the cur-
rent extent and opening a new one automatically. If, however, you're
performing some or all of these operations manually in your program,
you must be constantly aware of the extent in use and perform the
necessary open and close operations.
During the open file function, wildcard characters are allowed in the
F1-F8, T1-T3, and EX fields and will cause the first matching file to be
opened. It is difficult, however, to see the value in opening a file whose
name you do not know. In such a case, the FCB would be activated from
the first directory entry matching the partial FCB. Missing informa-
tion in name fields would be filled in too. Use this feature with caution.
At the successful completion of function 15, the directory code corre-
sponding to the now open file is returned in register [A]. If no matching
file exists in the directory, a value of OFFH is returned in [A| to indicate
the error. Of course, if no match is made, no alteration of the FCB fields
occurs.
It cannot be stressed too often that a file must not be accessed for
read/write operations until either a successful open file operation or a
make file operation has been performed to activate the FCB. One addi-
tional word of warning: BDOS also initializes other data locations within
itself in response to the open-file and make-file function calls. Simply
setting up the FCB with all information, therefore, is not sufficient when
you wish to begin read/ write access.
The next function is close file :
BDOS function no:
Function name:
Function purpose:
Entry parameters:
Exit parameters:
16
Close file
Deactivate the FCB for the named file
[C] = 10H
[DE] = FCB address
[A] = directory code
The close file function is the opposite of the open function. When the
close file function is issued, the referenced FCB is used to update the ap-
propriate directory entry on the disk with any altered information and
status. The FCB must have been activated with a prior open-file or make-
file function call. As was so with the open function, question marks may
be used here in the name and extent fields. The returned values for the
close file function are the same as most that we've looked at so far; [A]
contains a directory code if the operation was successful or a OFFH if the
referenced file could not be found.
Since the purpose of the close file function is to update the directory
entry from the FCB, it's mandatory to make this call whenever a file has
been written to. In this way, new blocks that have been allocated in the
block list (the BA-BP fields) and new records added to the record count
(the RC field) will be permanently recorded. Although Digital Research
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MAY 1984
indicates that the close function is not necessary when nothing but read
operations have been performed on the file, the safest way to handle files
in your programs is always to close open files, regardless of what action
has been performed on them.
The next function to look at is read sequential:
BDOS function no: 20
Function name: Read sequential
Function purpose: Read CR from the file named in FCB
Entry parameters: [C] = 14H
[DE] = FCB address
Exit parameters: [A] = error code
This function causes a 128-byte record of the referenced disk file to
be transferred from disk to memory at the current DMA address. The
FCB whose address is passed in the [DE] register pair must have been
activated by a previous make-file or open-file function call. At that point,
all of the fields of the FCB except the record number fields CR (sequen-
tial) and RL-RH (random) will have been initialized to the proper values
for this extent of the file. All that remains, then, is for the record number
field to be set to the required value and the function initiated. In response
to function 20, BDOS will read the single 128-byte sector (CR) from the
current extent number (EX) shown in the FCB.
As we mentioned in March, this function is normally used to access a
file sector-by-sector from the beginning. To use the function in this fash-
ion, the programmer need only set the CR field to 0 before the first call.
From then on, BDOS will automatically increment the CR field at the
completion of each successful call to this function. If during this incre-
menting process the CR field exceeds the total record count (RC), BDOS
will close the current extent, increment the extent number (EX), and
open the next extent.
Since CR and EX are automatically updated after each read, function
20 may be called repeatedly to read the remainder of the file with no fur-
ther manipulation of the FCB. Since BDOS does not automatically adjust
the DMA address the way it does CR and EX, if no other BDOS func-
tions are used, then each logical sector that is read will overwrite in
memory the sector previously read. This approach gives the program ac-
cess to each new sector at the same memory address.
If, on the other hand, it's necessary for more than one sector to reside
in memory at the same time — as it is when an entire file is being read in,
for example — the DMA address must be set to a value 128 bytes beyond
its current value, using the set DMA function (see function 26).
Function 20 informs the program of a successful read operation by
returning a 0 value in the [A] register. If, however, the end-of-file was
encountered before the read could begin, or if some type of fatal disk er-
ror (bad sector, bad seek, or whatever) took place, then a nonzero value
will be returned in register [A] to inform the program that no valid data
was transferred during this function call.
The next function we'll examine is write sequential:
BDOS function no: 21
Function name: Write sequential
Function purpose: Write CR to the file named in FCB
Entry parameters: [C] = 15H
[DE] = FCB address
Exit parameters: [A] = error code
This function is very similar to read sequential, except that data is be-
ing transferred in the opposite direction— from memory to disk. Just as
with the read function, the FCB must be activated by an open-file or
make-file function call and the CR field must be set to the required rec-
ord number before the function is initiated. When called to perform func-
tion 21, BDOS will transfer a single 128-byte record from the current
DMA address to disk as record number CR in extent number EX of the
file referenced in the FCB. If the file, extent, and record already exist on
the disk, the new data taken from memory will simply overwrite the old
data at that record position.
Since it is a sequential operation, function 21 is normally used to
write records in numerical order from the beginning of the file. To aid
this process, CR and EX are automatically updated and extents closed
and opened as necessary at the successful completion of this call. To
write sequential records repeatedly from the same memory area, there-
fore, requires only that the program repeatedly call this function, ensur-
ing that the correct data to be written is in the memory area at the current
DMA address before each call. Neither further manipulation of the FCB
nor additional BDOS function calls are required.
Alternately, when large blocks of data that exist contiguously in
memory are to be written, the DMA address may be set to the start of the
block before the first write and then adjusted by 128 bytes prior to each
new write (see function 26).
The function informs the program of a successful write by returning a
0 in register [A]. An error condition, such as a full disk or a physical disk
error, is reported by returning a nonzero value in [A] . It is very impor-
tant to remember that regardless of the sequence of events, the close file
function must be called when your program has completed its write oper-
ations so that the directory will be properly updated.
The next function we'll examine is read random:
BDOS function no: 33
Function name: Read random
Function purpose: Read RCR from the file named in FCB
Entry parameters: [C] = 21 H
[DE] = FCB address
Exit parameters: [A] = error code
The read random function causes BDOS to transfer a single 128-byte
record from disk to memory. The data comes from the file named in the
activated FCB referenced by [DE] and is placed in memory starting at
the current DMA address. So far, it appears that this function is very
similar to read sequential, but here's where the similarity ends.
The record that is brought from disk during this function is no longer
identified by the program using CR and EX. Rather, it is established by
the three bytes of the FCB specified as the RL, RM, and RH fields. Dur-
ing normal access, only fields RL and RM are used, since all random
record numbers from the smallest (0) to the largest (65535) can be repre-
sented in just two bytes. RH, therefore, indicates overflow beyond the
highest valid record, and as such is reserved as an error flag for BDOS
(and occasionally even for our programs, as we'll see when we discuss
function 35).
As reflected by the fact that CR and EX are no longer used by the
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DB Master Version Four 230.00
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Advanced Visicalc lie 260.00
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English SAT 22.00
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READER'S DIGEST
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Delta Drawing 41.00
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Typing Tutor II 18.00
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MAY 1984
New Apple Portfolio Management System!
How to Invest
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Apple is a registered trademark of Apple Computer Inc. © 1983 The Boston Company
program, random access of the file requires no reference to extents,
records within extents, and so on. Instead, the file is treated as one large
collection of records and the program simply calculates the record
number to read from among the 65,535 possible. This difference in access
method allows complete freedom in file access— any record in the file
may be accessed in any order whatsoever simply by setting RL and RM
to the record number and calling this function. All calculation and search
is handled by BDOS.
It should be pointed out that random access of a file using system calls
is not the same as random access in a high-level language such as Basic.
There is, for example, no difference in the length and format of in-
dividual file records. File records are still 128 bytes in length and still
have an associated extent number (EX) and record number within the ex-
tent (CR). The only difference between random and sequential usage
with system calls is strictly in the method of access— records that have
been written randomly may be read sequentially and vice versa.
In actuality, BDOS eventually operates in sequential mode when per-
forming this function. It uses the value supplied in RL and RM to calcu-
late EX and CR values for this record. Using these, it can open the prop-
er extent and read the record number within that extent that corresponds
to the random record number requested. It would be possible for a pro-
grammer to duplicate the actions of BDOS in this case, performing the
calculations of EX and CR and the opening and closing of various extents
manually. This would produce the same random-access effect, but since
BDOS is willing to do all this automatically there isn't much advantage in
doing it yourself.
Although a successful random read is reported by returning a 0 in the
[A] register (just the way it's done with sequential reads), BDOS reports
errors that occur during random access differently than it reports sequen-
tial access errors— the main difference being that there are several more
error codes. In the interest of completeness, we will show the extra error
codes here, but in reality, your programs can treat any nonzero returned
value as an unwritten record error and still be ninety-nine percent accu-
rate most of the time. In any case, there are four possible codes that can
be returned if an error is encountered during random read operations:
01— Reading unwritten data
03— Cannot close current extent
04— Seek requested to unwritten extent
06— Seek requested past physical end of disk
These codes are fairly straightforward. An error code of 01 is
returned when the extent calculated from RL-RM exists but the specific
record calculated within that extent was never written to the file. In
short, this means that the program tried to read one of the empty records
that can exist in a file created by random access. This is the most com-
mon of the possible errors, and the one that your program can probably
assume for any nonzero value. Error code 04, on the other hand, in-
dicates that even the extent calculated from RL-RM has never been
created in this file. Although it is a different type of error, in almost
every sense, it means the same thing— no such record was ever written in
this file.
Error code 03 does not result from a problem with the record request-
ed. Instead, it deals with a previous operation. It results from the fact that
BDOS had to close an existing open extent (perhaps updating the direc-
tory) before it could open the new extent requested. Sometime during the
process of closing the extent an error, usually a physical disk error, oc-
curred. Since data may have been lost, and since something is obviously
wrong, BDOS proceeds no further with the new operation and returns an
error code to indicate trouble.
Last we have error code 06, shown as "seek requested past physical
end of disk." That description is somewhat misleading when applied to
random reads because it's practically impossible to attempt a read
beyond the end of the disk. This is so because the read operation uses
only the information compiled during writes to calculate disk sectors to
read. Consequently, the read operation will never try to read something
that was not previously written. Since no write will have taken place be-
yond the physical end of disk, there is no way to get this type of error
during reads. Instead, error code 06 is used during reads to show that the
RH field of the FCB is nonzero, meaning that a random record that ex-
ceeds the maximum allowed (65,535) has been requested. This usually
means the programmer was not careful about always setting this field of
the FCB to 0.
MAY 1984
sumn
159
A final point— although as mentioned earlier, BDOS calculates and
sets the values of EX and CR in the FCB, it does not increment them at
the end of successful random reads the way it does at the end of success-
ful sequential reads. Neither does it increment the values of RL-RM.
Reading a series of records in random mode, then, means that you must
manually increment the random record number and place the new values
into RL and RM yourself.
Also, when switching from random mode to sequential mode, the
program should repeat the last read in sequential mode so that CR (and,
if necessary, EX) are automatically incremented before proceeding. Al-
though you can increment CR manually before proceeding with sequen-
tial access, you must recognize that this will not tell you if the current ex-
tent has been exceeded. You will, therefore, have to test CR to see if it
has exceeded 7FH; and if it has, you will have to handle the closing of
the current extent, incrementing EX, and opening the new extent
yourself. It is simplest just to repeat the read and let BDOS handle the rest.
The next function to look at is write random:
BDOS function no: 34
Function name: Write random
Function purpose: Write RCR from the file named in the FCB
Entry parameters: [C] = 22H
[DE] = FCB address
Exit parameters: [A] = error code
This function is exactly like read random except that the data is being
written to disk from the current DMA address. Once again, BDOS uses
the value contained in RL and RM to calculate the EX and CR values for
this record. BDOS handles all closing and opening of extents required
and, in addition, takes care of allocating new blocks to the file as needed.
Like read random, BDOS sets the EX and CR fields in the FCB to
new values each time this function is called, but no incrementing of these
or the RL-RM values takes place. Therefore, all the important points
discussed under read random apply here as well.
If the write is successful, a 0 is returned in register [A], while an un-
successful write returns an error code. The possible error codes for ran-
dom write are 03, 05, and 06. The 03 and 06 codes have the same mean-
ing as they do in random read operations, while code 05 indicates that a
new extent cannot be created because the disk directory is full.
The next function is write random with zero fill:
BDOS function no: 40
Function name: Write random with zero fill
Function purpose: Write RCR from the file named in the FCB and fill
unallocated blocks with zeros
Entry parameters: [C] = 28H
[DE] = FCB address
Exit parameters: [A] = error code
This function is identical to the standard write random function ex-
cept in one aspect. In cases where a new disk block is being allocated for
the file, the entire block is filled with 0s before the record is written. This
has the effect of eliminating old data that may have been left in these disk
sectors. While on the surface this may not seem important, anyone who
has had to reconstruct a file or otherwise manipulate one without know-
ing exactly what valid data it contains will appreciate the idea of not hav-
ing a collection of invalid leftover data mixed in with the good stuff.
The next function is compute size:
BDOS function no: 35
Function name: Compute size of file
Function purpose: Obtain highest record + 1 of the file
Entry parameters: [C] = 23H
[DE] = FCB address
Exit parameters: RCR is set in FCB
This function is used to find the size of a previously opened file on
disk. The FCB referenced in the [DE] register pair specifies the disk (0
or 1 through 16) and the file name to be tested. No wildcard characters
may be used in the FCB and the random record fields (RL-RH) must be
set to 0. BDOS locates all extents of the file and returns a value that is
equal to the last valid record in the file plus 1 . (Note that since record
numbers start with 0, this is the actual record count for the file.)
The value returned by the compute size function is placed in the RL-
RH fields. If field RH is nonzero after the completion of the function,
this indicates that the highest possible record number (65,535) has already
been written in this file. In such cases, the other two random record num-
ber fields are meaningless. If, on the other hand, the RH field is 0 at the
completion of the function, then the fields RL and RM contain a valid
sixteen-bit record number indicating the next available (unwritten) rec-
ord of the file.
Although the function may be used on any file, it has its greatest
value with files created sequentially— that is, files that have all records
from beginning to end filled with data. With these files, the value
returned is the correct size of the file in records. As we've seen, how-
ever, files that have been created randomly may have gaps throughout.
Indeed, it is even possible to write a file on an Apple disk that contains
record 65535, provided that only a few records are written. This function
is unable to tell whether the file contains gaps or is complete; conse-
quently, the value reported for files with gaps won't be accurate. Instead,
the value returned will be the number of records the file would contain if
it were completely full.
The compute size function is used for another purpose besides file-
size calculation. Programmers often call it to find the end of a file in
preparation for adding more material. Since the value returned by
the function is the next available record, and since the RL-RH fields are
set by BDOS, a random write operation can be performed immediately
without altering the FCB at all.
Using function 35 to extend a file in this manner is relatively simple.
The first record to be added to the end of the file is moved into the DMA
memory area (or the DMA address is altered to point to the data), and a
random write function is called. Without altering the data (or the DMA
address), the write is then repeated in sequential mode to adjust CR and
EX automatically. From that point, any number of additional sequential
writes may be made to complete the extension of the file.
Obviously, using function 35 for this purpose is most useful with files
created sequentially, since new records will usually be added at the end
of the file. With random files, the programmer is nearly always follow-
ing a numbering scheme of some kind that determines where additional
records will be added; and these records usually won't be in sequence.
The final function to be examined is set random record:
BDOS function no: 36
Function name: Set random record
Function purpose: Compute RCR for given CR and EX
Entry parameters: [C] = 24H
[DE] = FCB address
Exit parameters: RCR is set in FCB
This function's purpose is to obtain the random record number for a
given sequential record number (CR) and extent (EX) of the file. The
standard practice is to perform sequential reads or writes of the file until
the desired position is reached and then to call this function. When the
function is complete, the RL and RM fields of the FCB will be set to the
correct random record number for this CR and EX. Since this function
only converts successfully read sequential record and extent numbers,
there will never be a case when an invalid random record number (RH
nonzero) is returned.
According to Digital Research, the primary use of this function is
with random files that are based on some type of key system. Such files
contain easily recognizable key data at strategic points to separate one
part of the file from another. To use the function with such files, one sup-
posedly scans the entire file searching for the various keys. As each is found,
function 36 is used to obtain the correct random record position corre-
sponding to that key. Then when all keys have been identified, the pro-
gram can go on to do all of its actual work on the file in random-access
mode. This is certainly a valid way to use this function, but it is not the
most efficient form of random access file usage.
This completes our discussion of the functions. Now it is time to
move on and incorporate these new system calls into our subroutine
library. Figure 2 shows the new subroutines by themselves. As you
can see, we have again made use of the skipping effect of the
LD HL,nnnn opcode to preserve the [C] register as we cascade down
the chain from whichever entry point we select.
Since all the file functions but one (function 26) require that [DE]
contain the address of an FCB, we have placed an instruction to load
[DE] with the default FCB address (005CH) at the end of that group of
functions. By placing function 26 after that point, we avoid destroying
Three good reaso
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MAY 1984
mmn
SRCHFR:
LD
C.11H
DB
21 H
SRCHNX:
LD
C.12H
DB
21H
MAKFIL:
LD
C.16H
DB
21H
DELFIL:
LD
C.13H
DB
21H
RENFIL:
LD
C.17H
DB
21H
SETATT:
LD
C.1EH
DB
21H
OPNFIL:
LD
COFH
DB
21H
CLSFIL:
LD
C.10H
DB
21 H
RDSEQ:
LD
C.14H
DB
21H
WTSEQ:
LD
C15H
DB
21 H
GTSIZE:
LD
C.23H
DB
21 H
SETREC:
LD
C.24H
DB
21H
RDRAN:
LD
C.21H
DB
21 H
WTRAN:
LD
C22H
DB
21H
WTFILL:
LD
C.28H
LD
DE.005CH
DB
21 H
SETDMA:
LD
C1AH
JP
0005H
Search for first
Skip 2 bytes
Search for next
Skip 2 bytes
Make file
Skip 2 bytes
Delete file
Skip 2 bytes
Rename file
Skip 2 bytes
Set file attributes
Skip 2 bytes
Open file
Skip 2 bytes
Close file
Skip 2 bytes
Read sequential
Skip 2 bytes
Write sequential
Skip 2 bytes
Compute file size
Skip 2 bytes
Set random record
Skip 2 bytes
Read random
Skip 2 bytes
Write random
Skip 2 bytes
Write random with zero fill
Point [DE] to FCB
Skip 2 bytes
Set current DMA address
Go BDOS ret to caller
CLRSCN:
LD
HL.2A1BH
[L] = 1BH, [H] = "*"
JR
SENDEM
Print them
CLREOS:
LD
HL.591BH
[L] = 1BH, [H] = "Y"
JR
SENDEM
Print it
CLRLIN:
LD
E.ODH
Carriage return
CALL
PUTCHR
Go to start of line
CLREOL:
LD
HL.541BH
[L] = 1BH, [H] = "T"
JR
SENDEM
Print them
NORMAL:
LD
HL.291BH
[L] = 1BH,[H] = 'r
JR
SENDEM
Print them
INVERS:
LD
HL.281BH
[L] = 1BH,[H] = "("
JR
SENDEM
Print them
HOMCUR:
LD
H.1EH
[H] = single char home
DB
21H
Skip 2 bytes
CURSUP:
LD
H.OBH
[H] = single char up
DB
21 H
Skip 2 bytes
CURFWD:
LD
H.OCH
[H] = single char forward
JR
SENDIT
Print only one
SENDEM:
LD
E,L
Get first character
PUSH
HL
Save second character
CALL
PUTCHR
Send first
POP
HL
Restore second
SENDIT:
LD
E,H
Get second
JP
PUTCHR
Send it
CHARACTER I/O SUBROUTINES
Figure 2. File-related function subroutines.
the new DMA address; we manage this by loading [DE] with the FCB if
function 26 is called.
Because we are loading [DE] automatically with the FCB address,
programs that use the library in this form will have to use the default
FCB area for file access. To eliminate this restriction, you can remove
the instruction that loads [DE] and simply make sure that your program
always loads the correct FCB address before calling the necessary sub-
routine. Another method would be to duplicate the subroutine calls both
before and after the instruction to load [DE], thereby giving yourself the
option to use either the default FCB or one of your own.
Now that we've completed the subroutines for file-related functions,
we can incorporate them into our overall subroutine library. The library
is shown in total in figure 3, with all available BDOS functions installed.
PUSH
DE
Save buffer address
LD
(DE),A
Set maximum characters
CALL
BUFFIN
Get input
POP
DE
[DE] = buffer address
INC
DE
[DE] -> chars received
LD
A,(DE)
[A] = chars received
INC
DE
[DE] -> first character
OR
A
Set Z80 zero flag
RET
Return to caller
CRMSGQ: CALL CARLF
MSGOUQ: JR STROUT
CRMSG: CALL CARLF
MSGOUT: CALL STROUT
CARLF: PUSH DE
LD DE.CRLF
CALL STROUT
POP DE
RET
CRLF:
DIRIN:
DB
0DH,0AH,'$'
* GENERAL-PURPOSE SUBROUTINE?
ABORT:
LD
CALL
CALL
JP
DE.SYSDSK
MSGOUQ
GETCHR
0000
Reinsert system disk message
Inform him
Get ack, any char will do
Go warm boot
LOOP:
SYSDSK: DB
DB
LD E.OFFH
CALL DIROUT
OR A
JR NZ.DOCHAR
LD A,(LOOP)
OR A
RET Z
JR DIRIN
DB 00
'Place System Disk in Drive A: and '
'Hit RETURN. . . $'
TERMINAL SCREEN FUNCTIONS
LD
HL.0017H
Bottom left of screen
PUSH
HL
Save position
LD
HL.3D1BH
[L] = 1BH, [H] = " = "
CALL
SENDEM
Print them
POP
HL
Restore position
LD
A,L
Line position
ADD
A.20H
Add offset value
LD
L,A
Back to [L]
LD
A,H
Horizontal position
ADD
A.20H
Add offset value
LD
H,A
Back to [H]
JR
SENDEM
Print them
DOCHAR: AND 7FH
CP 61 H
JR C.CTRL?
CP 7BH
JR NCCTRL?
AND 5FH
CTRL?: PUSH AF
CP 20H
JR NCECHO
CP 03
JP Z, ABORT
PUSH AF
LD A.5EH
CALL ECH01
POP AF
ADD A.40H
JR ECHO
Print leading CRLF
Print string
Print leading CRLF
Print string
Save possible string address
[DE] -> return and line feed
Go print them
Restore any string address
Return to caller
CR, LF, and termination
Direct console input entry
Get character from keyboard
Get one?
Yep, go process it
No, get loop flag
Keep looping?
No, return now
Yes, go try again
Z = one pass, NZ = loop
Yes, strip any high bit
Is it L/C?
No, skip conversion
Maybe, is less than 'z' + 1?
No, skip conversion
Yes, convert to U/C
Save it for caller
Is it printable?
Yes, go echo it
No, is it control-C?
Yes, then abort
Save it again and . . .
. . . replace it with 'a'
Print 'a'
Get ong char instead of 'a'
Make it U/C ASCII and . . .
... go print it
162
MAY 1984
ECH01:
ECHO:
PUSH AF
LD E.A
CALL DIROUT
POP AF
RET
BDOS SYSTEM CALLS
I nit stack with dummy value
Into [E] for DIROUT
Send character to screen
Restore char or dummy value
-( CHARACTER I/O FUNCTIONS )
STATUS:
LD
OOBH
Console status function
CALL
0005H
Call BDOS
INC
A
00 -> 01, OFFH -> 00
RET
NZ
NZ = no character, so return
GETCHR:
LD
C,1
Console input function
DB
21 H
Skip 2 bytes
PUTCHR:
LD
C,2
Console output function
DB
21H
Skip 2 bytes
RDRIN:
LD
C,3
Reader input function
DB
21H
Skip 2 bytes
PUNOUT:
LD
C,4
Punch output function
DB
21 H
Skip 2 bytes
LSTOUT:
LD
C,5
List output function
DB
21 H
Skip 2 bytes
DIROUT:
LD
C,6
Direct I/O function
DB
21 H
Skip 2 bytes
STROUT:
LD
C,9
String output function
DB
21H
Skip 2 bytes
BUFFIN:
LD
C,10
Read buffer function
DB
21 H
Skip 2 bytes
GETIOB:
LD
C,7
Get IOBYTE function
DB
21H
Skip 2 bytes
SETIOB:
LD
C,8
Set IOBYTE function
DB
21H
Skip 2 bytes
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MISCELLANEOUS FUNCTIONS )
RESETS:
GTVERS:
SETUSR:
LD
DB
LD
DB
LD
JP
O00H
21 H
O0CH
21 H
C.20H
0005H
Reset system function
Skip 2 bytes
Get version number function
Skip 2 bytes
Get/set user function
Go BDOS ret to caller
-( FILE-RELATED DISK I/O FUNCTIONS )-
SRCHFR:
LD
C,11H
Search for first
DB
21 H
Skip 2 bytes
SRCHNX:
LD
C.12H
Search for next
DB
21H
Skip 2 bytes
MAKFIL:
LD
C,16H
Make file
DB
21 H
Skip 2 bytes
DELFIL:
LD
C.13H
Delete file
DB
21 H
Skip 2 bytes
RENFIL:
LD
C.17H
Rename file
DB
21 H
Skip 2 bytes
SETATT:
LD
C.1EH
Set file attributes
DB
- 21 H
Skip 2 bytes
OPNFIL:
LD
O0FH
Open file
DB
21H
Skip 2 bytes
CLSFIL:
LD
C.10H
Close file
DB
21 H
Skip 2 bytes
RDSEQ:
LD
C.14H
Read sequential
DB
21H
Skip 2 bytes
WTSEQ:
LD
C,15H
Write sequential
DB
21H
Skip 2 bytes
GTSIZE:
LD
C,23H
Compute file size
DB
21H
Skip 2 bytes
SETREC:
LD
024H
Set random record
DB
21H
Skip 2 bytes
RDRAN:
LD
C.21H
Read random
DB
21 H
Skip 2 bytes
WTRAN:
LD
C.22H
Write random
DB
21H
Skip 2 bytes
WTFILL:
LD
C.28H
Write random with zero fil
LD
DE.005CH
Point [DE] to FCB
DB
21H
Skip 2 bytes
SETDMA:
LD
C,1AH
Set current DMA address
DB
21 H
Skip 2 bytes
-(NON-FILE-RELATED DISK I/O FUNCTIONS)
SELDSK:
LD
O0EH
Select disk function
DB
21H
Skip 2 bytes
RESETD:
LD
C.25H
Reset single disk function
DB
21 H
Skip 2 bytes
RESETA:
LD
O0DH
Reset all disks
DB
21H
Skip 2 bytes
GETCUR:
LD
C19H
Get current disk function
DB
21H
Skip 2 bytes
GETLOG:
LD
C.18H
Get login vector function
DB
21H
Skip 2 bytes
GETALO:
LD
C.1BH
Get alloc vector function
DB
21H
Skip 2 bytes
PROTEC:
LD
C1CH
Write protect disk function
DB
21 H
Skip 2 bytes
GETROV:
LD
C.1DH
Get R/O vector function
DB
21 H
Skip 2 bytes
GETDPB:
LD
C.1FH
Get DPB address function
JP
0005H
Go BDOS, RET to caller
GETUSR:
LD
E.0FFH
E is flag for BDOS
JR
SETUSR
Go via SETUSR call
Figure 3. The complete subroutine library.
As you can see, since the file-related functions do smash the [DE]
register pair, we have had to separate the character I/O and
miscellaneous functions from the disk functions by placing a
JP 0005H instruction at the end of the miscellaneous function calls.
This costs two bytes, but it is probably the optimum way of ac-
complishing the task.
This completes our study of the BDOS functions themselves. Until
next month .... 31
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DOS's New Type Command
One of the biggest problems with Apple text files is that there's no
easy way to see what's in them. This month we're going to solve that
problem once and for all by adding to DOS a new command, called type,
that will display any text file on your screen or printer (or send it through
your modem, for that matter). In addition to gaining this very handy
command, you'll learn some interesting details about what text files look
like on the inside and what's involved in adding commands to DOS 3.3.
Text File Fundamentals. For the sake of those of you who are new
around here, we'll start this discussion in very shallow water. We'll
slowly wade in deeper— feel free to get out and dry off when you can't
hold your breath any longer. Now don't be afraid.
Text files are almost always used to hold data rather than programs.
When you catalog your disk, text files are the ones that have a t in front
of them (DOS 3.3) or txt in the type column (ProDOS). Sample catalogs
are shown in figure 1 .
There are two kinds of text files, sequential and random access. Se-
quential files consist of one long stream of ASCII characters (letters,
numbers, symbols, and control characters). DOS 3.3 sequential files end
with a special marker, control-® (hex $00). The stream has no other es-
sential characteristics. If you want to read a file by using standard Apple-
soft input statements, there must be at least one return character in the
file every 256 characters— but this is an Applesoft requirement; DOS
doesn't care.
Random access files also consist of streams of characters, but the
characters are arranged in a more orderly fashion. Random access files
consist of a series of records all having the same length. The records in a
random file can be as long as 32,767 characters (DOS 3.3) or 65,535
characters (ProDOS). But as a practical matter, random files usually
have a record length of between ten and a couple of hundred characters.
You assign the record length you want a file to have when you open
it. If you assign a file a record length of fifty, for example, the first fifty
characters in the file belong to the first record, the next fifty to the sec-
ond record, and so on. (Incidentally, the first record is always referred to
as record zero, the second as record one, and so on.)
In each of the catalogs in figure 1 , one of the files is sequential and
JCATALOG
DISK VOLUME 254
T 002 APRIL SHOWERS
T 017 MAY FLOWERS
[CATALOG /SPRING/TIME
/SPRING/TIME
(DOS 3 3)
(ProDOS)
TYPE BLOCKS
CREATED ENDFILE SUBTYPE
APRIL SHOWERS
MAY FLOWERS
TXT
TXT
1 3-APR-84 11 10 3APR-84 1109
9 12-MAY-84 9 33 12MAY-84 9 15
155 R= 0
4096 R= 100
BLOCKS FREE 260 BLOCKS USED 20 TOTAL BLOCKS 280
Figure 1 . Catalogs holding text files.
one is random access. No matter how long you study the DOS 3.3 cata-
log, you'll never figure out which is which. The information isn't there.
Nor is there anything about how long the records of the random access
file are. You have to remember those details yourself (you say you
bought a computer to remember things for you?).
With ProDOS, on the other hand, this information is kept in the di-
rectory with other details about a file. Look at the last column of the
ProDOS catalog. The parameter R indicates record length. Text files that
have a record length of zero are sequential files. Any other record length
indicates a random file and the length of its records.
The next to the last column of the ProDOS catalog, the one headed
endfile, tells you the length of the file in characters. ProDOS always
saves a file's true length in the file directory. DOS 3.3, on the other
hand, doesn't know a file's current length. The numbers in DOS catalogs
indicate how many disk sectors have been allocated to a file but are often
not related to the file's actual length. For example, when a file gets
smaller, sectors are not automatically deallocated. Thus, a file that was
once 100 sectors long, but is now only 22 sectors long, will still display
a "file length" of 100 sectors.
So where do DOS 3.3's end of data messages come from? DOS 3.3
returns an end-of-data error whenever it encounters an end-of-data
marker. As noted earlier, this marker is a zero byte— hex $00 or ASCII
control-®
Biting Off the Zero Byte. Let's take a look at the end-of-data mark-
ers in a DOS 3.3 file. A very interesting little text file we can look at is
called Apple Proms— you'll find it on old DOS 3.3 System Master disks
and new DOS 3.3 Sample Programs disks. Make a copy of your Apple
Proms disk, boot the copy, enter this program, save it, and run it (a mis-
take could damage your disk — use an expendable backup until you have
tested the program):
5 PRINT "INSTALLING TYPE COMMAND . . ."
10 C$ = "9D54:DE BC"
15 GOSUB 500 : REM change command jump table
20 C$ = "A902:54 59 50 C5 00"
25 GOSUB 500 : REM change command name table
30 C$="A940:74"
35 GOSUB 500 : REM change syntax table
40 C$ = "BCDF:20 C6 A5 A9 8D 20 ED FD 20 EF BC 90 F8 4C EA A2'
45 GOSUB 500 : REM install first part of patch
50 C$="BCEF:AD00C0C9 9B F0 03 4C 8C A6 8D 10
CO A9 00 38 60"
55 GOSUB 500 : REM install last part of patch
60 C$ = "A631:EF BC"
65 GOSUB 500 : REM Exec Killer (optional— see Dec '83 DOStalk)
MAY 1984 S Q P J A L K m 165
70 END
500 C$ = C$ + "N D9C6G"
510 FOR 1 = 1 TO LEN (C$) : POKE 511+1,
ASC(MID$(C$,I,1))+128 : NEXT
520 POKE 72,0 : CALL -144
530 RETURN
After running the program, enter type apple proms on your keyboard.
If you've entered the program correctly, the contents of Apple Proms
will quickly scroll by on your screen. Press control-S to stop and restart
the scrolling; press escape to exit the display completely. The display
will look something like this (the @ signs will be in inverse type):
]TYPE APPLE PROMS
75
DEL 1000,1250
SAVE RANDOM
HOME
RUN
©©PARALLEL PRINT,256,8,500
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@COMMUNICATIONS,256,8,1250
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@(NOT AVAILABLE),256,8,0
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@(NOT AVAILABLE),256,8,0
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@DISK BOOT.256,8,432
@@@@@ . . . and so on
Apple Proms is a data file for the DOS 3.3 demonstration program
called Random. Random is a simple inventory-control program de-
scribed on page 77 of the DOS Programmer's Manual.
Since it's a data file for Random, it would be reasonable to assume
that Apple Proms is a random access file. It is. Look at the part of the file
that begins with the word "communications" and ends with the open
parenthesis of the first "(not available)." This is the third record in the
file (but remember that it's officially called record 2).
This record describes a single item in a hypothetical inventory. The
item is a communications PROM (a PROM is a programmable ROM—
an electronic chip). The "256" indicates its size, and the "1250" indi-
cates the quantity on hand. You can confirm this by entering run Ran-
dom. The "8" is apparently Random's programmer's lucky number and
nothing more; Random reads and writes that portion of the record but
never uses it.
The record length of Apple Proms is forty. Count the characters, in-
cluding the ending @ signs, in the communications record. Don't forget to
count the invisible carriage return after "1250." Exactly forty charac-
ters, right?
Count the other records if you like. They're all forty characters long.
You can confirm this by looking at line 70 of Random, where the file is
opened with the L parameter set to 40.
You've no doubt noticed that record zero is completely different from
the others. Record zero, in fact, holds a small sequential file. The file
consists of a series of Basic commands meant to be executed with the
exec command.
The original version of Random wouldn't run while on the write-pro-
tected System Master disk. This small exec file was a part of a command
sequence used to modify the original program and save it on a non-write-
protected disk. The modifications the exec file makes (deleting lines 75
and 1000 through 1250) remove the rest of the self-modifying command
sequence from the program before saving it.
Nowadays Random comes on the non-write-protected Sample Pro-
grams disk, so the self-modifying command sequence isn't included in
the program. Nonetheless, Apple Proms still contains this small, sequen-
tial, exec-able file within record zero.
If you try to load Apple Proms into a text-file-compatible word proc-
essor, or if you try to read it with sequential text file commands, it will
appear that the file ends right after this section. When DOS encounters
the first @ sign, it assumes it has reached the end of the file. It is ex-
tremely difficult to fish anything out of a file beyond that first @ sign un-
less you are dealing with a random access file of known record length, or
unless you have the help of our new type command or a disk sector
read/write utility.
The type command will always show you everything in all of the sec-
tors allocated to a file. If you have a file that contains nothing but the
word help! and a carriage return, type will display those six characters
and the 250 @ signs that make up the rest of the sector (each sector holds
exactly 256 characters; character positions that have never had anything
else stored in them hold @ signs).
Sizing Up Text Files. If you look at a catalog display to find out the
number of sectors allocated to a very short text file like Help!, it will
show that the file has two sectors. Yet type displays only 256
characters — one sector's worth. What happened to the other sector?
At least one sector of every DOS 3.3 file is used to hold the file's
track/sector list. T/S lists are small databases Uncle DOS creates for
each file on a disk. A file's T/S list points to the disk sectors in which the
file's data has been stored. The smallest legitimate DOS 3.3 file you will
ever see has two sectors— a T/S list sector and a data sector.
Occasionally you will see files in your catalog that show a sector
length of one. These are files that were opened but never closed. They
are empty, useless files, and you might as well delete them. Do all you
can to avoid creating them in the first place. When DOS opens a new
file, it allocates an entire disk track in the disk free-space map for it.
When the file is closed, DOS goes back and corrects the free-space map.
When an opened file is never closed— say you turn off your computer
or reboot before closing or deleting the one sector file— the disk's free-
space map doesn't get corrected. What's worse, it can't be corrected
later either— not even if you delete the file. Thus a disk with several one-
sector files on it will appear to DOS to have far fewer free sectors than it
really has. The only way to recover this space, short of special disk re-
covery utilities, is to use fid to move any good files to some other disk
and reinitialize.
A single T/S list can point to 122 data sectors. If a file has more data
sectors than that, a second T/S list sector is allocated, and so on.
Open, Delete, Open, Write. Whenever you open a new text file, it
contains, as far as the eye can see, a stream of @ signs. Just as astrono-
mers can detect background radiation that echoes the big bang that cre-
ated the universe, all those @ signs you find in your text files are rem-
nants of the file's creation. DOS never puts an end-of-data marker in a
file. Instead, files begin life as a stream of end-of-data markers— data
replaces the markers until the data ends and the markers begin again.
This has an important ramification. It's hard to make an existing se-
quential file or random access record shorter than it was before. If we
changed the contents of Help!, for example, to "ok!" and used the type
command to display it, we would find "ok!", a return, "!", a return,
and the same old 250 @ signs in the file. The second exclamation point
and return would always mysteriously be tacked onto the end of our file.
There is no straightforward way to tell DOS to end the file after the
first return. You might think you could do it by writing a control-®
(print CHR$(0)) to the file, but not even this works. Basic sends the
control-® to DOS just like all other characters— in the high-value ASCII
format. DOS receives a 128 (hex $80) rather than a data-ending zero.
Therefore, it has become common practice when working with sequen-
tial files to delete old files before saving new information in them. Here's
the standard sequence of instructions used for doing this:
400 PRINT D$;"OPEN INDY 500"
410 PRINT D$;"DELETE INDY 500"
420 PRINT D$;"OPEN INDY 500"
430 PRINT D$;"WRITE INDY 500"
The lines make precious little sense until someone explains them to
you. The idea is to delete a preexisting file called Indy 500. If the file
didn't exist yet, however, line 410 would return a "file not found" er-
ror. Just to make sure there's a file around to delete, we open it first.
This will create a file called Indy 500 if there's not one already on the
disk.
Interestingly, this technique has to be modified slightly to work with
ProDOS. ProDOS won't allow you to delete an open file. When convert-
ing programs to ProDOS, you have to add a line like 405:
400 PRINT D$;"OPEN INDY 500"
405 PRINT D$;"CLOSE INDY 500"
410 PRINT D$;"DELETE INDY 500"
420 PRINT D$;"OPEN INDY 500"
430 PRINT D$;"WRITE INDY 500"
With This Zero I Thee End. The difficulty with deleting the file
first is that this takes a few seconds. In addition, it takes longer to save
data in a brand-new file than in a preexisting one (DOS doesn't have to
search for free sectors when using a preexisting file). Luckily, there are
ways to avoid this awkwardness.
166
sunn
MAY 1984
If you still have the Random demo program around, run it and call
upon its powers to change the name of the "communications" PROM
(#2) to "com". Then exit the program and give the command type apple
proms. Here's what you might expect to see, given what we've discussed
so far, and what you actually will see:
Original file:
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@COMMUNICATIONS,256,8,1250
Expected contents after changing "communications" to "com":
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@COM, 256,8,1 250
256,8,1250
Actual contents after change:
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@COM,256,8,1250
,8,1250
When Random updates the record for the communications PROM, it
writes the new name, "com", in the record, followed by ",256,8,1250"
and a return. It would be reasonable to expect that the next few bytes
of the file would contain whatever they held before the change was
made. Instead, the record holds an @ sign and two invisible carriage
returns (detectable by the new lines they create). Where did that @ sign
come from?
The humble little Random demo program includes an undocumented
DOS programming trick. Here are the lines of Random that write the up-
dated record into the file. When these lines are executed,
WR$ = D$ + "write"; FL$ = "apple proms"; R = 2; N$ = "com";
BL=256; BW = 8; and ST = 1250.
290 PRINT WR$; FL$;",R'
294 CALL 768 : PRINT
300 PRINT D$
R : PRINT N$;","; BL;","; BW;","; ST
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Line 290 writes the updated data into record 2. Since there is no
return-suppressing semicolon at the end of the second print statement,
print puts a return after "1250."
The next line begins with a call to a machine language routine at loca-
tion 768 ($300). What's this? The call is followed by a print statement
and, in line 300, by a simple print D$, which turns the write command
off. Studying random further, we find a statement at line 74, during the
program's initialization sequence, that calls a subroutine at line 9000.
This subroutine looks like this:
9000 FOR I = 768 TO 775 : READ J : POKE I, J : NEXT
9010 RETURN
9100 DATA 169,0,32,237,253,76,142,253
The subroutine pokes a short machine language subroutine at location
768. This subroutine is:
0300- A9 00 LDA #$00 load A with zero
0302- 20 ED FD JSR $FDED print it
0305- 4C 8E FD JMP $FD8E print a carriage return
So . . . it is that call 768 that manages to put an end-of-data marker in
record 2! The call also puts the first carriage return after the @ sign into
the file— the print statement in line 294 puts in the second one.
You can use this trick to put end-of-data markers in your own files. If
you do, you no longer need to delete preexisting data files. The trick
doesn't work with ProDOS, however. Remember, ProDOS doesn't use
end-of-data markers.
All about Type. The type command is very useful for finding out
what's actually in a text file. It's also handy for dumping files to printers
or other devices. Simply enter pr#\, or whatever, before entering the
type command. In this case, you probably don't want to send that final
string of end-of-data markers to your printer— it may choke on all those
control-@s. You can fix type very easily by poking a different value into
memory location 48362. If you poke in 208, type stops at the first end-
of-data marker. To reset it so that type stops at the end of the last sector,
the normal setup, poke 48362,144.
If you'd like to make the type command a permanent part of DOS,
simply initialize a new disk after installing the command. Whenever that
disk is booted, you'll have a type command.
When using type to display random access files with lots of unused
records, you may occasionally get a display that is clearly wrong. For
example, imagine you create a random file with a record length of 256
(the size of one sector). Store "spring fever" in records 0 and 5. When
you type this file you will see record 0's "spring fever", return, and 243
@ signs, but that's all. You won't see the 1 ,024 @ signs that should be in
records 1 through 4 or any part of record 5.
This is because DOS doesn't allocate data sectors to random files un-
til something is actually stored in them. Check out the sector length of
this imaginary file. It's only three. When type goes to get Spring Fever's
record 1 , DOS looks in the T/S list and finds that no data sector has ever
been allocated for that file position. DOS assumes that the end of the file
has been reached, tells type about it, and type halts execution.
When working with DOS 3.3 random files, it's best to initialize all
the file's records with some kind of data — just blank spaces will work
fine. Then type will display the whole file every time. This trick isn't
necessary with ProDOS.
A potential problem with type that you should be aware of is that it
uses the DOS free space at 48351 ($BCDF). The type installation pro-
gram given here doesn't check to see whether this free space is truly free
or if some other patch has already been installed there. Should type over-
write another patch, the previous patch will be destroyed. Likewise, if
you or one of your programs should install a second patch at this loca-
tion, type itself will be destroyed and cease to function.
Another problem with type is that it deletes the DOS verify command.
In order to add new commands to DOS 3.3, one of the old commands has
to be deleted (this is not true with ProDOS, as we'll see next month).
Verify was chosen partly because it is not a widely used command, but
mostly because it is by far the easiest command to usurp.
Adding Commands to DOS 3.3. There are three tables deep within
the genetic structure of Uncle DOS that you must make adjustments to if
you'd like him to respond to your own special commands. These are the
command name table, the command syntax table, and the command
jump table.
MAY 1984
SOCTA
167
Whenever you send a command to Uncle DOS, he studies it carefully
to determine whether he can beep you with a syntax error rather than
executing it. This process is called parsing. First DOS looks at your
command and tries to match it with one of the words in his command
name table. This table was examined at length in DOStalk in April and
May 1982.
Here's a quick summary. The command name table lives inside DOS
between bytes 43140 and 43272 ($A884-$A908). The initial letters of
each command are in low-value ASCII; the last letter of each is in high-
value ASCII. The final byte of the table holds a zero. As Uncle DOS zips
through this table looking for a match with your command, he counts the
number of high-value ASCII characters that pass by. If he gets to the
zero — which indicates no match was found— he passes the command on
to Dr. Basic.
If a match is found, on the other hand, all further actions DOS takes
are based on that count of high-value ASCII characters he has been keep-
ing. The count is used to create an index into the two other command-
oriented tables.
If you decide to make changes to the command name table, it's easiest
if you replace an existing command with another of the same length. If
you use a command name with fewer letters, you have to slide all the
other commands down to take up the unused space. If you make a com-
mand longer, you have to find some other command you can make
shorter.
The nice thing about verify is that it is the last command in the table.
Thus there's no big problem with replacing its six letters with the four
letters of type and moving the table-ending zero down two.
Once Uncle DOS has found a command in the name table and
calculated an index, he immediately uses the index and the command syn-
tax table to determine what parameters are required and what parameters
are optionally allowed with the command. The command syntax table is
at bytes 43273 through 43328 ($A909-$A940) . Each command has two
bytes in the table. The first two bytes are associated with the first com-
mand in the name table (init); the second two bytes with the second com-
mand (load); and so on.
Each bit inside the two bytes has a specific meaning. They are shown
in figure 2.
first byte:
if bit = 1 then.
send cmd to Basic if required tile name is missing (load, run. save)
execute cmd even if file name is missing (close)
file name required
second file name fequired (rename}
pr#/m# value required
maxfiles value required
I not direct command
I may create new file
bit 7 6 5 4 3 2 10
second byte:
if bit = 1 , the command line may include the shown parameter
if bit = 0. the parameter is not allowed with this command
parameters:
C.I.0 V D S L R B A
bit 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
Figure 2. Command syntax table bits.
Exec, for example, has the hex values $20 and $74 stored in its two
bytes. In $20, only bit 5 is set— a file name is required. In $74, bits 6, 5,
4, and 2 are set. This means the Volume, Drive, Slot, and Relative posi-
tion parameters are allowed with this command. The type command, in-
cidentally, allows the same parameters as exec.
There are more beautiful examples of assembly language program-
ming than the DOS command parser (many of them within DOS itself).
The section of DOS that uses the command syntax table is what's known
as a hacker's delight. It is extremely complex and far from perfect. Load
1 more file or load (control-P)Program or load program, a$800 should
return syntax errors, for example. Instead, they will all hang up your
system. They send control to Applesoft's load cassette tape routine,
where it stays until you press control-reset (or until you load a cas-
sette tape).
Feel free to change the syntax table to fit your needs — with two excep-
tions. Always make sure that the first command in the table (usually init)
is allowed to create new files and that the second command isn't. Break-
ing this rule causes a strange bug that takes weeks to find.
Once all your command's parameters have been parsed with no er-
rors, DOS uses the command index to select an address from the com-
mand jump table and jump to it. This table is at bytes 40222 to 40277
($9D1E-$9D55). The addresses in this table are "pushed," which
means they are one less than the true beginning of the routine they point
to. Assembly language programmers may recognize the following sec-
tion of instructions, which demonstrates how DOS passes control to the
routines that actually execute the various commands:
LDX CMDINDX command number * 2
LDA CMDJUMPS + 1 ,X get high byte of jump address - 1
PHA push it onto stack
LDA CMDJUMPS.X get low bye of address - 1
PHA push it onto stack
RTS jump to address via rts
(rts pulls address off stack, adds one,
and jumps to the resulting location)
Now comes the hard part of creating new DOS commands. Once
your command has been successfully parsed, what is it going to do?
Here's what the type command does:
1000
1010
1020
1030
1040
1050
1060
1080
DOS 3 3 "TYPE" COMMAND
DOSTALK-MAY 1984
1090
OR
$BCDF
1 100
BCDF-
20
C6
A5
1110
TYPE
JSR
$A5C6
open & position file
BCE2-
A9
8D
1120
LDA
#$8D
load A with a return
BCE4-
20
ED
FD
1130
,1
JSR
$FDED
print it
BCE7-
20
EF
BC
1140
JSR
NEXTCHR
load A with next character
BCEA-
90
F8
1150
BCC
1
continue until no more sectors
BCEC-
4C
EA
A2
1160
1170
JMP
$A2EA
close file
BCEF-
AD
00
CO
1180
NEXTCHR
LDA
$C000
peek at keyboard
BCF2-
C9
9B
1190
CMP
#$9B
escape key pressed7
BCF4-
F0
03
1200
BEQ
HALT
yes— stop execution
BCF6-
4C
8C
A6
1210
1220
JMP
$A68C
no— get next char from file
BCF9-
8D
10
CO
1230
HALT
STA
SC0 10
clear keyboard strobe
BCFC-
A9
00
1240
LDA
#0
pass back a zero
BCFE-
38
1250
SEC
and set the carry bit
BCFF-
60
1260
RTS
First let's look at the last half of the routine, nextchr. This routine is
called every time a character is to be pulled from the file. It takes a peek
at the keyboard to see if the escape key has been pressed. If so, execution
passes to the halt sequence, which clears the keyboard strobe, loads the
A register with zero and sets the carry (to simulate an encounter with a
file-ending zero and with the end of the last sector in the file), and
returns to the caller.
This same routine, installed in the same location, was used in the exec
killer program presented in DOStalk in December. There it caused a
press of the escape key to halt runaway exec files and the reading of text
files. Here it has the same halting effect on type. You can easily activate
the routine for exec and read too if you like— see lines 60 and 65 of the
type installation program.
The top half of our patch begins with a subroutine jump to $A5C6.
This is the section of DOS that opens exec files. It works beautifully
here. The only problem with it is that if you try to stop type by pressing
control-reset, DOS will stop typing and start execking. You're not sup-
posed to press control-reset while DOS is working; but never press it
while type is active.
Next we print a return and enter a tight loop that simply gets
characters from the file and prints them. We continue through this loop
until our call returns with the carry (a flag within the Apple's
microprocessor) set. This indicates that either the end of the last sector in
the file has been reached, or somebody pressed the escape key. At that
point we jump to $A2EA, which is a routine that will close the file for us.
Earlier we discussed poke 48362,208, which stops all those @ signs
from appearing at the end of typed files. What this poke actually does is
change the branch on carry clear at $BCEA to a branch on not equal.
Thus, whenever a control-® (hex $00) is encountered in a file, the test
will fail and we'll fall through to the instruction that closes the file. 33
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MAY 1984
169
Working on a Phone Line, Avoiding Downtown
Another working day is ended
Only the rush hour hell to face
Packed like lemmings into shiny metal boxes
Contestants in a suicidal race.
—Sting , ' ' Sy nchronicity II . "
Picture this: Each weekday between the
hours of six and nine in the morning, millions of
people hop into their cars, drive to a freeway,
and merge themselves with a whole bunch of
other cars, producing one of the ugliest sights in
the civilized world— the traffic jam. The num-
ber of man-hours spent in traffic jams each day
is mind-blowing. After they reach their respec-
tive destinations, these people go into different
buildings, where most of them sit down at a
desk.
Now picture this: The same millions of peo-
ple, instead of going to their cars, walk across
the room to a computer. When they get there,
they sit down and begin doing the same work as
the people who jumped into their cars. It's
called telecommuting— doing one's work by
home computer instead of having to go to an of-
fice.
The advantages to telecommuting are obvi-
ous: Traffic jams, fuel costs, and getting
dressed for work would no longer be a problem.
Given the opportunity, a lot of us would prefer
to work at home and avoid the inconveniences
of the daily commute.
Maybe telecommuting isn't quite the right
term to describe the above scenario; the word
sounds like it means people travel to work via
telephone lines — a concept that's more amusing
than it is viable. It's more accurate to define
telecommuting as doing office work at home
and sending in the finished product by phone.
It's convenient, but just because you have a per-
sonal computer doesn't necessarily mean it's
time to tell the boss you won't be coming into
work anymore and are setting up your office in
the countryside instead.
Who's It For? In order to be able to take ad-
vantage of telecommuting, a person's job must
involve handling, creating, or retrieving infor-
mation. That is, it must be work that can be
done on a computer, such as word processing,
number crunching, or information processing.
It's possible that the work isn't being done on a
computer yet; what's important is that it could
be. Once the job is computerized, it shouldn't
make much difference where the computer ter-
minal is as long as you can connect a modem to
it and send in completed work by phone.
A typical example of telecommuting in-
volves the executive whose daily drudgery in-
cludes gathering data, analyzing it, making pro-
posals, and distributing information in the form
of reports. Of course, he or she will have to
show up at the office for meetings, but it doesn't
make too much sense to don a suit, hop in the
car, and drive downtown to do other things easi-
ly done at home or at a cabin in the mountains.
From that description, telecommuting looks
like the way of the future. It's a convenient and
economical solution to one of the biggest has-
sles of the country's work force — commuting.
However, whether it will catch on soon or catch
on at all is questionable.
For telecommuting to be viable, managers
will have to realize that it will improve produc-
tivity, and costs of transportation will have to
remain high. There are problems with each of
these conditions. First, managers can only un-
derstand that telecommuting will benefit busi-
ness if someone has tried it; and second, no one
wants to see gasoline prices rise.
So, despite the popularity of personal com-
puters, telecommuting is still just an idea and
not a common practice. However, there are
people working on computers out of their
homes. Professional writers, entrepreneurs, pro-
grammers, and consultants have been doing it
for years. But that's not telecommuting, since
most of them are self-employed and normally
wouldn't be commuting to work.
It would be very procomputer to say that the
benefits of telecommuting far outweigh the dis-
advantages; the trouble is that the benefits are
economic and can be measured, while the disad-
vantages are social and are harder to measure.
Let's look at the benefits first.
Life without Three-Piece Suits. Assuming
that everyone who could telecommute did so,
traffic jams and child care centers would be
things of the past. We wouldn't have to worry
about lousy weather making commuting a prob-
lem, nor would we worry about what to wear to
work. Hours would likely be more flexible, al-
lowing people to work at their convenience.
Less office space would be necessary.
Well, it certainly seems like telecommuting
would be the solution to a lot of problems, but it
would also present some of its own. The biggest
disadvantage is that social relations would be
reduced significantly. Here are some things that
are likely to disappear: company bowling night,
coffee-break gossip, office politics (for better or
worse), lunch with co-workers, and activities in
general that could be totally unrelated to work
but essential to job satisfaction. Heck, telling
jokes at the coffee machine is the most fun some
people have all day! From this angle, telecom-
muting is purely goal-oriented; its purpose is to
increase productivity.
There is also the question of self-discipline.
Face it, there are scores of other things we'd
rather be doing than working. Outside of an of-
fice environment, it's sometimes difficult to con-
centrate on work. Granted, some people are
pretty good at getting their work done under any
circumstances. For the rest of us, the refrigera-
tor, couch, backyard, and television can be ter-
ribly distracting. Even for those who have no
trouble keeping their minds on work, keeping
others away (especially the kids) from the com-
puter can be a challenge.
With these problems in mind, it seems that
the person who would be perfect for telecom-
muting is Bernice Bromfield, a self-motivated
product development manager for AgriDentu-
tek, a manufacturer of dental equipment for
farm animals. Bromfield lives alone and has an
Apple at home; Dentutek has a mainframe,
170
MAY 1984
PREVENT THE DISASTER
OF HEAD CRASH AND
DROPOUT.
The war against dust and dirt
never ends. So before you boot
up your equipment, and
everytime you replace a
cassette, disk or drive
filter, be sure to use Dust-Off II ;
it counteracts dust, grit and lint.
Otherwise you're flirting with
costly dropouts, head crashes
and downtime.
Dust-Off II is most effective
when used with Stat-Off II. Stat-
Off II neutralizes dust-holding
static electricity while Dust-Off II
blasts loose dust away. There's
also the Dual Extender and Mini-
Vac for vacuuming dust out of
hard-to-reach places.
Photographic professionals
have used Dust-Off brand
products consistently on
their delicate lenses and
expensive cameras for
over ten years. They
know it's the safe, dry
efficient way to contami-
nant-free cleaning.
Cleaning not provided by liquid
cleaners.
Dust-Off II 's remarkable
pinpoint accuracy zeros in on the
precise area being dusted. And
you have total control — every-
thing from a gentle breeze for
Stat-Off II neutralizes dust-holding
static electricity from media and
machines.
delicate computer mechanisms
to a heavy blast for grimy dirt.
Don ' t let contamination dis-
rupt your computer operation.
Stock up on Dust-Off II — the ad-
vanced dry cleaning system,
at your local computer or
office supply dealer.
Or send $1.00 (for
postage and handling)
for a 3 oz. trial size and
literature today.
Dust-Off II
The safe dry cleaning system
Falcon Safety Products. Inc . 106b Bristol Road, Mountainside. NJ 07092
which Bromfield used to work with from a ter-
minal at her desk. She convinced her boss that
she could probably be more productive at home,
and the boss, not being one to argue, agreed.
The first thing Bromfield had to do was fig-
ure out how to make her Apple talk to a main-
frame. Unlike consumer-oriented systems like
CompuServe, business mainframes don't expect
computers, as opposed to mainframe dumb ter-
minals, to be coming to them for information.
As a result, different mainframes sometimes
have different protocols that must be met before
data can be transferred without errors. Brom-
field isn't a technical whiz, so the best thing for
her to do was to get someone familiar with the
business 's computer to help her get set up.
(A common misconception is that having a
microcomputer at home automatically means
you can use it like a terminal to work with any
mainframe host computer. Using a microcom-
puter to function like a mainframe terminal so
that the mainframe "thinks" the microcom-
puter is one of its terminals is called terminal
emulation; the micro is emulating, or acting as,
a mainframe terminal. Purists feel that sixteen-
bit micros are better suited than eight-bit micros
for terminal emulation because they can adapt
more easily to various communications proto-
cols. Unfortunately, the Apple is an eight-bit
computer. In layman's terms, that means it will
be harder to use an Apple for terminal emula-
tion than it is to use a sixteen-bit machine for the
job. Harder, but not impossible.)
New Office Tools. A few words about
Bromfield's setup: An eighty-column card is al-
most always necessary, since most mainframes
format displays in eighty columns, rather than
in the Apple's forty. Trying to read eighty-col-
umn displays on a forty-column monitor is like
listening to Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel one
at a time and then trying to imagine what they
would sound like together; you can get a
general idea, but it's not the same as hearing it
as it was originally intended. Solution? Invest in
an eighty-column card.
Modems come in various sizes, prices, and
speeds. For working with mainframes, speed is
important. Currently, 300 baud is the most
common speed for microcomputer modems, but
the big computers are accustomed to communi-
cating much faster than that. As the prices of
1200-baud modems drop to a level that's afford-
able to consumers, 1200 baud will likely be-
come more popular. There are a lucky few out
there who are using modems that work faster
(2400-, 4800-, 9600-baud), but for purposes of
transferring data files, 1200 is good enough.
With all the hardware set up, the next thing
Bromfield had to take care of was software.
Remember, because the Apple is a computer
(not just a terminal), it needs help communicat-
ing with a host. Additional peripheral boards
are one solution, albeit an expensive one. An-
other way to make the Apple function like a
mainframe terminal is through software. A
popular program that does that is Softerm 2,
from Softronics (this is not an endorsement; a
review of Softerm 2 appears in Marketalk
Reviews this month).
Softerm 2 is oriented more toward transfer-
ring files than capturing data. Its main feature is
that it provides exact terminal emulation for
MAY 1984
SOFTALK
171
twenty popular mainframes. Transfer methods
include character protocol for text file transfers,
the popular xmodem protocol for transferring
binary files to or from CP/M systems, and Sof-
tronics's Softrans protocol, which transfers any
type of file and provides binary encoding and
decoding, cyclic redundancy check (CRC) error
detection and automatic retransmission, and
data compression.
As unique as Softerm 2 sounds, it isn't the
only program that provides terminal
emulation— it's just currently the most com-
prehensive. The Professional series (ASCII Ex-
press, Z-Term, and P-Term, which used to be
published by Southwestern Data Systems), from
United Software Industries, offers terminal
emulation in the form of prefix keys. Prefix
keys are those that can be modified to produce
characters not available on the Apple keyboard.
Life without Square Brackets. Especially
true of the Apple II and II Plus, some keys, such
as underscore, backslash, vertical line, and
square and curly brackets, just aren't there.
When using the Apple by itself, not having
those keys isn't usually a problem; programs
written for the Apple don't require them. But
some corporate systems, like the one at Brom-
field's office, use those special characters for
important functions.
Customizing prefix keys is simple. Here's
what it looks like in ASCII Express:
Prefixed Terminal Keys
Prefixed Key Output Character
, ($2C) [ ($5B)
($2E) ] ($5D)
aO($0F) a_($1F)
aQ ($11)
A)dd
D)elete
aQ ($11)
e(X)it?
The characters in the "Prefixed Key" col-
umn are what you press on the Apple keyboard,
and the characters in the "Output Character"
column are sent to the host when prefix keys are
pressed. Let's say we want to add a prefix key
that will transmit the backslash character.
After selecting the "Add" option, ASCII
Express will ask us which key we want as the
prefix key (which key we want to press to gen-
erate the backslash character). Any key will do;
let's choose control-U. Then it will ask us what
output character we want (what character to
send to the host when the prefix key is pressed).
Since there isn't a backslash key on the II or II
Plus keyboard, we can type in the ASCII value
of the backslash character, which is $5C (in
hexadecimal). Obviously, it helps to have a
chart of ASCII characters and their respective
values.
Now when we want to send a backslash to
the host, we can just type a control-U, and the
host sees it as a backslash character. Looking at
the table of prefixed terminal keys, we notice a
problem. What if we want to type a comma?
The table shows that typing a comma will send a
left square bracket. ASCII Express takes care of
that by requiring a special character (control-
W) to be typed just before prefix keys. Thus,
special characters require two keys to be
pressed; to send a left square bracket, you
would type control-W and then a comma. Con-
trol-W tells ASCII Express that the next charac-
ter (the comma) is a prefix key and to send the
corresponding output character (left square
bracket) instead of the comma.
Again, we can't say this enough times:
ASCII Express is used as an example only.
As we can see, the technology for telecom-
muting is available, but the question of whether
it's practical is still unanswered.
Big Boss Is Watching. Monitoring how
well a telecommuter works isn't any trouble. If
necessary, a person's boss need only check with
the office computer to see how things are going.
The only problem with that kind of monitoring
is that it approaches a fine line between moni-
toring and invading privacy. Where does moni-
toring end and going through a person's "desk
drawers" begin? It's hard to tell, which is why
telecommuting will have to be based on a work
supervisor's confidence in workers. The whole
point of telecommuting is to let people work on
their own without someone looking over their
shoulder all the time.
From this point of view, telecommuters will
be people whose bosses don't care how much
time is spent working, as long as the job gets
done. That might sound like "telecommuters
will be people in whom the boss has a lot of con-
fidence." But another way to translate it is
"telecommuters will be people who the boss
sees only in terms of their work, not as peo-
ple," which implies that telecommuters will be
noticed more when they're not working rather
than when they do something exceptionally
well. At promotion time, who will come to
mind first, the person whose face you see in the
office and with whom you talk each day, or the
invisible soul whose work appears by modem?
Anyone in a position to promote workers
won't likely have to make a decision under such
circumstances. Chances are that two people in
contention for a position would be working
under similar conditions; both would be
telecommuting, or both would be in the office.
Even if one telecommuted while the other
worked in the office, the one telecommuting
would probably be in touch with the office occa-
sionally at least.
Does Human Rights Cover This? It's diffi-
cult to imagine a society in which people
worked almost exclusively from their homes.
The image of millions of people sitting in front
of computer terminals instead of at desks
sounds more like the stuff of science fiction
stories than the way of the 1980s or even the
'90s. Telecommuting could mean the extinction
of personal communication. We can't ignore
that we're social animals who demand interac-
tion. We are the species whose daily activities
(in American society, at least) produced such
terms as rush hour, take a meeting, let's have
lunch, coffee break, happy hour, discuss it over
dinner, let's party, and meet me at the Hilton.
In our discussion of teleconferencing by
computer last month, we mentioned some of the
negative aspects of not being in the presence of
someone with whom you're communicating;
eye contact, visual cues, body language, hand
gestures, smiles, and even the rolling of
eyeballs are lost. Most of us communicate more
effectively when we can see who we're talking
to and they can see us.
Also, an office environment includes much
more than just walls, lights, and furniture. Oc-
casional positive words from co-workers or su-
pervisors can be especially conducive to work
(anything from "I like how you handled the
Clark account; keep up the good work" to
"Gosh darn, those are nice shoes"). Except for
shut-ins and hermits, we generally like being
around people, and they sometimes like being
around us.
Because we thrive on interaction, telecom-
muting will probably become a part of the
working world, not a replacement for the busi-
ness office. There's nothing too strange about
making a living out of one's home; lots of en-
trepreneurs do it. Before centralized cities,
working from the home was commonplace.
Telecommuting has something for
everybody. If you want to work at home, the
technology is here; if interacting with fellow
workers is worth fighting traffic and paying for
expensive gasoline, rest assured that the tradi-
tional office will be around for a while.
Computers are tools. Telecommuting is one
way to use those tools, and so far we've
managed not to let them control or use us. It
would take an incredibly incompetent society to
rely on computers to keep it running. As
sophisticated as our technology is, we're
nowhere near incompetence. Well, complete in-
competence, anyway.
If you know of any good terminal emulator
hardware for the Apple, please send the info to
Softalk Terminal Illness, Box 7039, North
Hollywood, CA 91605. 31
We Help Bring
Your Family Together
6 Types of Charts and Sheets
Indices
User Fields
Notes, Footnotes and Sources
No Limits
Adapts to Your Hardware
Comprehensive
Easy to Use
And Much, Much More
Send for brochure and sample printouts.
Family Roots includes detailed manual and 2 full diskettes
of programs for your Apple II * or IBM PC **
Other genealogy software also available.
Price: $185 plus $3.50 Postage
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P.O. Box 216, Lexington, MA 02173
(617) 862-0404
THE TOUGHEST
QUESTION
ON THE SATs
IS HOW
TO DO WELL
INTRODUCING THE OWLCAT S. AX PREPARATORY COURSE
Now the most effective way to pre-
pare for the SATs is the easiest, too.
Because now there's the new Owlcat
S.A.T computer course.
THE BRAIN POWER BEHIND IT
Owlcat was conceived by top educa-
tors. Developed by expert communi
cators. And tested by students
Nothing else is anything like
Owlcat.
COMPLETE, YET
COMPLETELY FLEXIBLE
The 60-hour course is made
up of four programs, each
with an accompanying man-
ual. And every program has three lev-
els of difficulty Which means students
can push themselves just as far as they
want to go.
S.A.T. Verbal -includes 2
vocabulary discs, 1 sentence
completion disc and 1 reading
comprehension/analogies disc.
S.A.T. Math -consists of 2 discs
for algebra and 1 for geometry.
Test of Standard Written
English
RS-A.T. Diagnostic Pre-Test
The Owlcat S.A.T programs can also
be purchased as a 15-hour course for
students with limited time to study
(Check price listing on this page.)
IT'S LIKE PLAY- THAT WORKS!
Even the very reluctant student
enjoys boning up with Owlcat. The
language is contemporary The sound
effects stimulating. The graphics fresh
and exciting. What's more, there's a
buddy study so students can practice
with a friend if they like. In fact, it's
sometimes hard to believe that some-
thing that's so easy is such an excep-
tional learning tool. Except for the
results.
Illlllllllllliill
l DIGITAL RESEARCH
H DIGITAL RESEARCH
Owlcat teaches students to follow
instructions. It familiarizes them with
the kinds of questions they'll face on
the S.A.Ts. And it helps diagnose and
strengthen areas of weakness by
reviewing and correcting wrong
answers at the end of every section.
That's not all, either. The verbal discs
include an Owlcat Dictionary for
instant definitions. And all the
discs have special "cheers" mes-
sages to provide encourage-
ment. Plus a unique audio-visual
clock that trains students to work
within tight time restrictions -
just as they will on the actual
exams.
No wonder the Owlcat S.A.T Pre-
paratory Course makes for a more
relaxed, confident and knowledge-
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what makes for a nice, high score.
PRICE LISTING
S.A.T 15-hour course
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S89.95
S.A.T 60-hour course
9 discs and 4 manuals $249.95
P S.A.T Diagnostic Pre-Test . . . $19.95
Available for IBM® PC & PCjr,
Apple,® and Commodore 64.' M
In color or monochrome.
To order or learn more about the
Owlcat S.A.T Preparatory Course, dial
800-227-1617 ext. 400 (in California,
800-772-3545 ext. 400) toll free
Whether you're getting ready to take
the S.A.Ts yourself- or care about
someone who is -it could be the
wisest move you'll ever make.
THE WISE COURSE TO TAKE."
1984. DIGITAL RESEARCH INC
SPEND
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While people have been over-
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Some are too complicated; others
are little more than toys; still others
are too slow and rigid in format.
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IT'S SIMPLER.
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instant access to any transaction
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IT'S MORE FLEXIBLE.
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grow.
IT'S MORE POWERFUL
Tracks up to 240 separate assets
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And all you need is an Apple II,
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Find out why TIME IS MONEY is
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11 A Main Street, Watertown, MA 02172 (617)923-4441
©Copyright 1983 Turning Point Software, Incorporated
Apple is the registered trademark of Apple Computer, Inc.
WORLD CENTER FOR COMPUTERS
FOCUSES ON POORER NATIONS
Paris is a long way from the Third World—
the countless small fanning villages of India,
the rugged mountains of Chad, the tropical
rain forests of Africa. Likewise, computers
seem far removed from the parts of the world
where food, electricity, and roads are scarce,
and where most people are illiterate, never
drink pure water, and never see a physician.
So how is it that a group who expressly
means to find and nurture the Bill Budges and
Mitch Kapors of the Third World comes to
hail from the City of Lights?
Paris is a hub of modern civilization, a liv-
ing record of the forward march of culture,
society, and technology. And Paris is fast
becoming a major center for advancement of
the computer arts and sciences. When these
things are taken into account, the fact that an
organization dedicated to sharing computer
technology with poorer, less-developed na-
tions has its headquarters in the land of
Balzac, Berlioz, de Gaulle, Napoleon, and
Renoir makes a bit more sense.
The Centre Mondial Informatique et Res-
source Humaine (World Center for Com-
puters and Human Resources) opened early in
1982. Surrounded by expensive art galleries
on avenue Matignon near the Champs-Ely sees,
the Centre Mondial is as global in its attitude
toward computing as its name would suggest.
The center was inspired by The World
Challenge, a book by French politician and
journalist Jean-Jacques Servan-Schreiber.
Servan-Schreiber argues that computers will
enable those who are intelligent and creative
but uneducated to do more with their lives.
The center's idealistic attitude stands out from
GOTO page 180, column 1
175
COSPAS-SARSAT
RESCUE SYSTEM
FLYING HIGH
Should you ever be in an airplane that's
about to crash in a remote area, or on a ship
that's rapidly sinking, the most vital piece
of equipment you can possibly have— after a
parachute or a life preserver— is a little metal
box about the size and shape of an Apple II
power supply.
The boxlike item is an emergency locator
transmitter (ELT), which, upon impact or
submersion in water, sends out a distress
whoop over the aviation and maritime distress
frequencies. It became required equipment in
general aviation aircraft by an act of Congress
in 1970. In 1972, the U.S. National Transpor-
tation Safety Board recommended that the
Coast Guard and the FCC require the same of
ocean-going vessels (in their case, the unit is
known as an Emergency Position-Indicating
Radio Beacon, or EPIRB).
The use of ELTs and EPIRBs was a good
idea, with two rather large flaws: signal visi-
bility and false alarms.
Lieutenant Colonel William Clark, direc-
tor of the Air Force's inland search-and-
rescue efforts, outlines the first problem:
"The only way an ELT signal could be de-
tected was if another airplane happened to be
flying within radio range, happened to have
the radio tuned to one of those frequencies,
and heard the distress signal. The plane's pilot
would then pass along his location to the
FAA, and the FAA would pass it to us. We'd
draw ever-decreasing circles until we could
identify the search area and then launch our
forces to go out and investigate.
"In the middle of the night in Kansas
there's not a lot of air traffic; if you crashed
you'd have to wait awhile."
In these early ELT days, both the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration and the
U.S. Coast Guard perceived that search-and-
rescue operations could be enhanced by im-
proved position location and expanded moni-
toring—that is, via the use of satellites. The
Canadian Department of Communication had
come to the same conclusion, and it agreed to
work with NASA in coming up with a search-
and-rescue satellite-aided tracking program
GOTO page 178, column 3
176
MAY 1984
Computerized Sushi Bars to
Appear in U.S. This Fall
Thanks to Japanese innovation, some sushi
bars in Japan and others scheduled to open
soon in the United States are computerized.
The Sun Atom Company, under the direction
of computer specialist and sushi fan Tsutomu
Takeuchi, is marketing the Mi-Com system—
a micro-based system that uncomplicates the
ordering of sushi and takes the guesswork out
of determining the bill. The first sushi bar
with a Mi-Com system opened in Matsudo
City near Tokyo last summer.
At traditional sushi operations, diners give
their orders verbally to the itamae, the sushi
chef, who then prepares the raw fish and
steamed rice combinations as the customers
watch. The chef presents the diners with a few
pieces of the Japanese delicacy at a time, all
the while keeping up a lively conversation.
The itamae then gives the sushi eaters the
bill, which customers sometimes find confus-
ing since the menu is written on the wall
sans prices.
The Mi-Com system eliminates much of
the potential for frustration. Customers make
their choices by touching a light pen to special
displays built into the countertop. The dis-
plays show the kinds and prices of sushi avail-
able. Customers can also use Mi-Com to
cancel their orders before they are filled by
the itamae.
Orders are electronically relayed to the
itamae\ command panel in succession, ena-
bling him or her to make the sushi promptly.
The computer eliminates the chance of the
chef s forgetting an order. The itamae is now
able to take care of as many as ten customers
at once, rather than three or four, the previous
average. Likewise, drink orders are transmit-
ted to the waitress station.
The subtotal for the meal is flashed on the
sushi eater's tabletop when the light pen is
touched to the proper square. When the diners
are ready to leave, they receive a combined or
individualized computer printout, listing
items, unit prices, and the total bill.
The Mi-Com also aids the restaurant's
management by processing orders for sushi
raw materials, controlling inventories, and is-
suing purchase orders. In sushi shop chains,
each shop's microcomputer can be linked to a
centralized accounting system.
The Sun Atom Company is setting up fran-
chise sushi shops and hopes to have forty in
Japan by next year. Three shops are currently
in operation in and around Tokyo. New Meiji
Franchise Corporation in the United States is
remodeling some of its sushi takeout shops
and constructing new ones to accommodate
the computer system. Takeuchi, through New
Meiji, hopes to have twenty shops in the U.S.
equipped with the Mi-Com system by early
next year, starting first with the West Coast
and Hawaii, then moving on to New York,
Chicago, and eventually throughout the
United States and Canada.
Computerized sushi shops were originally
scheduled to open on the West Coast in time
for the Summer Olympics, but now their pro-
jected opening is in September or October, ac-
cording to New Meiji.
The computer hardware, each unit costing
the equivalent of $1,070 in Japan, enables the
shop to serve three times as many diners as in
a traditional sushi parlor. It is already evident
in the sushi shops using the Mi-Com that the
average sushi eater is ordering more food than
before and that more customers are being
drawn to the shops.
The Mi-Com system is not the first attempt
to incorporate high technology in sushi shops,
according to Sun Atom. Recently, other com-
panies have introduced sushi-making robots
and conveyor belt sushi delivery systems. But
Sun Atom believes that the Mi-Com system is
the most efficient method because it preserves
the personal touch in sushi making, allowing
the chef more time to converse with his or her
customers. JG
AP Testing for
Computer Science
Begins This Month
High school Pascal programmers across
the country will be able to strut their stuff the
tenth of this month when Princeton, New
Jersey-based Educational Testing Service
(maker of the Scholastic Aptitude Test and
most college entry exams) administers its
first Advanced Placement examination in
computer science.
Nationwide, some five thousand candida-
cies are expected on the Pascal test, said Har-
lan Hanson of New York City's College Board.
The board decides what sorts of tests are
needed and commissions ETS to design them.
Pascal was selected because it has become the
language of choice in higher education.
"Pascal gives students good programming
practices — teaches them data structures —
which Basic really can't," says computer
teacher Pat Flenner of El Camino Real High
School in Woodland Hills, California, a Los
Angeles suburb.
Knowledge of structured languages is also
desirable in the job market, she says. Perhaps
ten of her more advanced Pascal students will
take the exam. Students at El Camino also
study Basic and have use of seventeen TRS-80
computers and fifteen IBM PCs.
The three-hour test consists of two equally
weighted parts, one containing fifty multiple-
choice questions and the other of some five to
ten problems that require programs to be writ-
ten to solve them. The tasks may be as rela-
tively easy as the finding of the average of ten
numbers or as complex as the designing of an
electronic bulletin board. Areas to be covered
will include arrays, strings, fdes, algorithms,
linked lists, stacks, and queues.
"Students haven't been fazed by the prac-
tice tests we've given them," said Dennis
Anderson, programming instructor at Ulysses
S. Grant High School in neighboring Van
Nuys. About fifteen of his students have
signed up to take the test. The school has one
Apple computer for every ten of the one hun-
dred eighty computer science students; the
lab and the Pascal course were both insti-
tuted last September. Though many in Ander-
son's preparatory course have studied Basic
and other computer topics, some have not. All
have taken second-year algebra, most have
taken calculus, and many own home computers.
If you score sufficiently high on an AP
test, most colleges and universities will waive
an entry-level course, award class credit, or
both. Though it appears that most schools will
grant unit credit for the Pascal test (general
credit toward the total number of units needed
for graduation), it remains to be seen whether
they will award subject credit (accept the test
score in lieu of successful completion of an
equivalent course at the school) in computer
science, mathematics, or engineering. JP
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CARRIER FORCE" is the WWII simulation of the major flat-
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RAILS
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You'll wheel and
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For all our APPLE® games, write for your free copy of SSI's color catalog.
If there are no convenient stores near you, VISA& M/C holders can order
direct by calling 800-227-1617, ext 335 (toll free). In California, call
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178
The EEC Approves
ESPRIT Computer
Research Program
In an effort to keep Europe competitive
with Japan and the United States in the high-
tech arena of information technologies, the ten
member countries of the European Economic
Community (EEC) have given the go-ahead to
an ambitious five-year, $1 .25-billion research
program dubbed ESPRIT.
The so-called European Strategic Program
for Research and Development in Information
Technology will be funded partly by the EEC
Commission in Brussels and partly by twelve
private computer and electronics companies.
The ESPRIT project will address five prin-
cipal areas of research: advanced microelec-
tronics, aimed at designing, manufacturing,
and testing very high-speed large-scale in-
tegrated circuits; software technology, in-
cluding what is described as "the management
practices for information technology as well
as the scientific knowledge underlying them";
advanced information processing, including
the exploitation of VLSI; office automation
and systems; and computer-integrated man-
ufacturing.
Teams of university, government, and in-
dustry scientists will carry out the research,
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with the requirement that each project in-
volve researchers from at least two EEC coun-
tries. In most cases, at least half of the funding
for a project must come from non-Commis-
sion sources.
As recently as last December in Athens,
the EEC members were still delaying approval
of the ESPRIT program— the technical details
of which had been decided upon in the middle
of last year— because of the members' failure
to reach agreement on various broader aspects
of the EEC's finances. However, in early
March, Etienne Davignon, head of both the
energy and industry directorates at the Com-
mission, was able to persuade both the West
German government and British Prime Minis-
ter Margaret Thatcher to agree upon the pro-
ject before further delay could undermine
Europe's chances of remaining competitive in
advanced information technology.
ESPRIT has been formed to address three
major difficulties facing Europe's electronics
industry as it tries to develop new technolo-
gies and remain competitive in international
markets. The three difficulties center on the
problem of raising long-term research and de-
velopment funds during a period of economic
recession and falling sales; a fragmented
home market that is broken down into rela-
tively small national units; and the reluctance
of some within individual companies to sub-
sidize those who have historically been
economic and political rivals.
After the March meeting in Paris, where
the project got its positive endorsement, Dav-
ignon called ESPRIT "the first optimistic de-
cision of the years 1983 and 1984, which is
going to impress both our American and Japa-
nese partners." Laurent Fabius, French Min-
ister of Industry and Research, also praised
the project, claiming that the go-ahead de-
cision also endorsed the broader strategy
being promoted by France for increased coop-
eration between European countries in all
fields of research.
A highly successful one-year pilot phase
for ESPRIT, launched in the middle of last
year with a budget of $20 million, attracted
over two hundred research proposals, from
which thirty-six were selected. EEC officials
were impressed, not only with the number of
proposals, but also with the apparent will-
ingness of companies to let their scientists
work together with few restrictions.
The twelve companies represented in the
ESPRIT steering committee are Great Brit-
ain's GEC, ICL, andPiessey; West Germany's
Nixdorf, Siemens, and AEG; France's CII-
Honeywell Bull, Thomson-CSF, and CIT-
Alcatel; Italy's Olivetti and SET; and
Holland's Phillips.
Davignon has promised, in return for sup-
port from Great Britain and West Germany,
that EEC resources for ESPRIT will be found
by cutting back elsewhere in the EEC's
planned research budget. These cuts could
amount to $100 million out of a total of about
$600 million next year, and even more in
1986. The single largest component in the
Commission budget is funding for research
into fusion energy, and no significant reduc-
tion in this area is expected. The most likely
target is the program of the EEC's joint re-
search center at Ispra in northern Italy, though
the Italian government may strongly resist
such a move. DH
Rescue System
■continued from page 175-
(SARSAT) in 1976. The French Centre Na-
tional d'Etudes Spatiales joined SARSAT the
following year, and the entry of the U.S.S.R.
and its COSPAS satellite program in 1980
made the joint project COSPAS-SARSAT.
The first satellite in the project was
launched by the Soviet Union on June 30,
1982. The COSPAS JJ went up the following
March, along with the first U.S. SARSAT sat-
ellite, to be joined by a second before the
end of the year. Ground stations and control
centers are now operational in the U.S., Cana-
da, France, the U.S.S.R., Norway, and the
United Kindgom.
With the satellites in place, problem num-
ber one, signal visibility, was greatly eased.
That left the problem of false alarms, which,
if anything, with the new efficiency in picking
up ELT signals, grew worse.
Lt. Col. Clark acknowledges the burden
search-and-rescue operations must bear:
"Our experience shows that 98 percent of the
time, ELTs are going off not as the result of a
distress situation. It's the combination of a
bunch of things— just flat neglect on the pilot's
part; or perhaps it's that some of the hardware
is not as good as it should be. The FAA, FCC,
NASA, the Coast Guard, the Air Force, and
the Radio Technical Commission for Aero-
nautics, a group of interested people in the
electronic and aircraft industry who meet to
address problems like this, have all been de-
bating the best solution."
Even when the problem of false alarms is
not considered, the current system leaves a
few things to be desired. To detect a distress
MAY 1984
179
signal and pass on the information to ground-
or air-based rescue forces, a satellite has to be
passing over the transmitting ELT and be
within the field of view of an earth station that
can receive the information. The satellite does
not store any information; instead it acts
simply as a radio relay, or "bent pipe." The
earth station ascertains the position of the
signal and sends it to a central communicating
system at the mission control center. The
MCC takes that position, looks at a map of
who has responsibility for search and rescue
in that area, and sends that party the message
that there's an ELT going off in their
neighborhood.
But by and large, admits Clark, the system
is a godsend. "SARSAT takes the long proc-
ess of redefining the search area and gives us a
relatively precise location— about twelve
nautical miles from one satellite report. An
airplane flying at thirty thousand feet would
Opposite page: October 1 1 , 1982, the wreck of
the Gonzo— the first marine rescue using the
COSPAS-SARSAT system. The three crewmen
were rescued after a passing COSPAS satellite
picked up its ELT signal and relayed the exact
location of the wreck to the Coast Guard. This
page: an illustration showing how the COSPAS-
SARSAT system operates. A correctly
functioning ELT (emergency locator transmitter)
is probably the most crucial part of the system.
give us a search radius of three hundred miles.
"We don't want to oversell the thing;
we're still very dependent on aircraft reports.
While the satellite-generated report does an
excellent job of telling where the signal is
along the satellite ground track, it can't tell
left and right because of the doppler shift
method it employs. It's great for telling you
where the thing is in terms of latitude, but it
isn't worth a darn in longitude."
At the moment, it appears that help is
finally on the way, in the form of the 406-mHz
beacon. Using an exclusive, stronger, cleaner
frequency than the original 121.5-mHz stan-
dard distress frequency model, this new trans-
mitter will enable pilots and mariners in dis-
tress to not only send a signal but to include
those personal touches that mean so much-
manual entry of latitude and longitude and the
nature of the emergency. There will be entry
codes to indicate "Send pumps," "I'm on
fire," or "Someone has appendicitis." The
COSPAS-SARSAT satellite, even if not in
range of an earth station, should be able to use
its onboard recording capability and then
dump all the information on its next pass over
an earth station (or local user terminal, as they
are known in satellite lingo). A new French-
designed processor that makes this possible by
measuring the doppler frequency on the space-
craft as well as on the ground eliminates the
requirement for mutual visibility of spacecraft
and LUT (launch umbilical tower) while a dis-
tress transmission is taking place. This proc-
essor represents an immediate and consider-
able saving of money on the number of earth
stations needed for full global coverage.
The updated ELT has been submitted by
the FAA for public comment; the device in-
corporates the specifications of the Radio
Technical Commission for Aeronautics, in-
cluding a monitor in the cockpit so that a
pilot will know when his ELT is activated for
any reason.
an immediate effect on the SARSAT program.
Satellite programs have several stages, known
as test, launch, demonstration, transition, and
operations.
"The international demonstration phase
will end this August," says Fred Flatow,
SARSAT mission manager at the Goddard
Space Flight Center in Maryland, "but we are
planning to continue the demonstration phase
with this new experimental 406-mHz system.
The 121.5 will probably be discontinued."
Other things will change, too. The use of
Hewlett-Packard 1000s at the SARSAT mis-
sion control center at Scott Air Force Base, Il-
linois, is, according to Flatow, one of them.
"We are in the process of defining what the
ultimate operational ground system should be
like, and we are looking at many other com-
puters. We already have two H-Ps lashed to-
gether and are buying a third one, but they are
much too small to take care of the job."
"Assuming that there is no argument with
the proposal, then it will be adapted as a
technical standard order," confirms Bernard
Geier, manager of the general aviation and
commercial division of the FAA. The higher-
power, improved-frequency 406-mHz trans-
mitter will then become commercially avail-
able for about $500. For the money, the pilot/
mariner will get 95-percent probability of sig-
nal detection, with a signal accuracy range of
within two kilometers and the ability to store
up to four hundred distress signals. "At some
future time we may require that all aircraft be
fitted with the new units only," says Geier,
"but that hasn't been determined yet."
"To be really effective," emphasizes Clark,
"it has to be lightweight so that you can carry
it on an airplane, and the user has to be able to
afford it. We don't want another engineering-
success-and-operational-failure type of
thing."
The FAA's move toward making the supe-
rior 406-mHz unit the ELT of choice will have
For Flatow, "a truly operational system
will have a specific configuration — so many
satellites in orbit, a worldwide system of
ground stations, and so on. The transition
phase is one where we are going to build to-
ward that— develop the real configuration of
the ultimate system. I don't believe anyone
can guarantee now how many satellites will be
in orbit. The managerial shape of the ultimate
system— whether it will be run by the U.S.,
run by the four partners now in the system, or
be a worldwide organization a la the U.N. —
has not been set. We're going to continue run-
ning the system the way we have it now,
building more ground stations, getting more
participants in, working out the shape of the
ultimate system, and putting that in place. The
transitional phase is one of building and firm-
ing up the organizational framework."
The "operational" phase of the program is
scheduled to begin officially in 1990. While
still "demonstrating," COSPAS-SARSAT
has saved 180 lives as of this writing. AC
180
Unnm
MAY 1984
World Center
■continued from page 175.
the norm just as its modernistic headquarters
stands out from the elegant seventeenth-century
buildings that line avenue Matignon.
The center is concerned with the practical
implementation of computers and the dissemi-
nation of information and knowledge about
computers. An example of the latter is a coop-
erative research program begun in February
1983 with the country of Colombia called
"Universite a distance." The center has a
similar program with Senegal.
The Centre Mondial' s headquarters pro-
vides a glimpse of the organization's philoso-
phies in action. Computers, say the center's
organizers, should be accessible to everyone,
even those who come in off the street. And in-
deed, as you walk through the center's glass
front doors, you enter a large room filled with
several brands of microcomputers, available
to anyone who chooses to explore their func-
tions and features.
Usually this room is filled with both young
and old Parisians exploring Logo, language
skills, and other microcomputer applications.
It's a kind of high-tech playground for all
ages; though, as you'd find at a playground
of the more conventional kind, there are of-
ten more young people in evidence than older
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ones. A multilingual receptionist is avail-
able to answer questions. The rest of the
building houses the administrative personnel
of the center.
With the help of people like Raj Reddy, the
center's scientific director, the Centre Mon-
dial organizes and implements projects de-
signed to bring the power of computing to the
poorer, less-developed nations of the world.
Reddy divides his time between overseeing
the center's research activities and directing
the robotics institute at Carnegie-Mellon Uni-
versity in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The cen-
ter has assembled about a hundred research-
ers, several in Paris and the rest scattered
around the world, and put at their disposal
several powerful computers.
One of the Centre Mondial's most ambi-
tious projects is the development of a com-
puter system to provide medical assistance in
the small, extremely poor African nation of
Chad. Center scientists have written a pro-
gram that diagnoses and recommends treat-
ment for leprosy, malnutrition, tuberculosis,
meningitis, postabortion infections, and so on.
Medical personnel with minimal training
merely answer simple questions posed by the
computer about a patient's medical history
and symptoms.
personnel to use them will be a simple matter.
The Centre Mondial has also donated a
number of microcomputers to educational ex-
periments in France and other countries. Last
year, fifty computers were put at the disposal
of youngsters in a tough neighborhood of
Marseille. This effort has helped to reduce
juvenile delinquency there. Another program
begun late last year involves taking the five
hundred brightest graduates of French tech-
nical schools and having them teach computer
skills to the unemployed as part of the grad-
uates' required year of military duty.
After a somewhat shaky start— the two
principal scientists of the center, whose MIT
credentials added credibility to the organiza-
tion, quit as a result of disagreements over how
the center should be run— the Centre Mondial
seems to be accomplishing some of the goals
that were set at its inception. But, according to
Reddy, the true harvest is still to come.
Researchers at the Centre Mondial are
convinced that as computer technology ad-
vances there will be even more effective ways
to aid those who stand to benefit the most.
They see voice synthesis and analysis as hav-
ing particular promise in the Third World,
where the majority of people are unlettered. A
farmer, for instance, would verbally ask the
The center is currently adapting the pro-
gram to run on a battery-powered notebook-
sized portable computer. A further enhance-
ment of the system would be the use of Smart
Cards— French-developed credit cards with
microprocessors that store information. Each
patient of a particular clinic would be issued a
card containing his medical history stored on a
chip. Then, when a patient returned to a clinic,
only the most recent information would have
to be entered.
The computer system in Chad— which
should be implemented late this year-
addresses the problem of native medical per-
sonnel leaving a poor country once they are
trained. Once the system is installed, the com-
puters will not be transient, and training new
computer for information on planting tech-
niques and get the answer through a voice syn-
thesizer. Since the problems of language and
localizing hardware could be virtually elimi-
nated, the sharing of technology would hap-
pen much faster.
Reddy himself grew up in a poor farming
village near Madras in India. His rise to the
position of an international authority on robots
and computers is the kind of scenario that the
center would like to see happen for others like
him who may not otherwise get the opportu-
nity to develop and use their abilities. The Cen-
tre Mondial Informatique et Ressource Hu-
maine is an ambitious group, the results of
whose efforts should be in evidence for many
years to come. DH
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■
182
□ A Buck, a Franc, a Yen, a Pound. The
Department of Commerce is making econom-
ic reports available to U.S. businesspeople
who are engaged in selling computers and
peripherals overseas. The reports, which vary
in length and price, describe market size,
trends, and prospects for makers of main-
frames, plotters, card readers, modems, and
the like. Publication dates of the available
reports range from 1977 to 1983. Newly gath-
ered data to be published this year, however,
will pinpoint export markets for minis and
micros in fourteen countries and software and
services prospects in five— France, Finland,
Norway, the Netherlands, and the United
Kingdom. The research is carried out by con-
sultants, working under contract and aided by
U.S. embassy personnel. The information is
assembled from government statistics, spe-
cialized periodicals, and interviews with trade
associations and computer firms based in the
country in question. The reports cover about
two-thirds of the approximately three dozen
nations with which the United States en-
courages high-technology trade. Prices range
from $10 for a twelve-page summary on a sin-
gle country to $176 for an exhaustive docu-
tun an
ment containing profiles of twenty-two na-
tions. Midsize in-depth studies of a single
country run $50 to $160. For a free catalog,
contact the U.S. Department of Commerce's
International Trade Administration or any
ITA district office. JP
□ Big Brother's Books Are Watching You.
Since last month's Newspeak feature on
Orwell and Nineteen Eighty-four, three more
publications concerning the English author
and his dystopian novel have come to our at-
tention. The Big Brother Book of Lists
published by Price/Stern/Sloan is a collection
of 147 lists, ninety anecdotes, thirty-seven
quotes, nine chronologies, three dozen glos-
saries, and a dozen Conrad and Mauldin car-
toons on the theme of the invasion of privacy.
On Nineteen Eighty-four, edited by Peter
Stansky and published by W.H. Freeman and
Company, includes twenty-two essays by
Stanford professors comparing today's
realities and Orwell's vision. 1984: Spring, A
Choice of Futures, written by Arthur C.
Clarke and published in hardcover by Del
Rey, is a collection of past speeches and
essays that suggest a considerably less omi-
nous view than Orwell's.
□ Follow the Yellow Brick Road. The 1984
Kansas Computer Exhibition, to be held June
8-10 in Wichita, will include a Robotics Con-
ference. The conference will feature speakers,
demonstrations, and exhibits with an emphasis
on personal, aerospace, and agricultural appli-
cations of robotics. In addition to the confer-
MAY 1984
ence, the exhibition— which is the largest an-
nual computer event in Kansas — will feature
seminars, hardware and software demonstra-
tions, and vendor exhibitions of computer-
related products and services from in and
around Kansas. For more information, contact
the exhibition's sponsor, the Wichita Group,
in Wichita, Kansas.
□ Winston Smith Meets Caligula. As
reported in last month's Newspeak, produc-
tion has started in England on a new film ver-
sion of Nineteen Eighty-four. What we didn't
report is that John Hurt (Alien, The Elephant
Man, I, Claudius) has been signed to play the
role of Winston Smith, the story's protagonist.
□ Maple Leaf Mechanicals. The Third Ca-
nadian CAD/CAM and Robotics Exposition
and Conference will be held June 19-21 in
Toronto, Canada. Conference topics include
justifying robots to management, robotics
education, robot socioeconomic considera-
tions, and robotic engineering and applica-
tions. For more information, contact Hugh F.
Macgregor and Associates in Toronto. Hi
fl E W S P E A K
STAFF
Editor David Hunter
Contributors Andrew Christie, Jane
Greenstein, Judith Pfeffer
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PASCAL.
And, a sophisticated Input/
Output system, DOS 3.3 compati-
bility and 9-digit floating point
operation provide all the flexibility
necessary to take full advantage
Paul Lutus is not only a respected
programmer, but an accomplished
musician, as well. So it's no surprise
that he would develop the first —
and finest — two-voice music syn-
thesizer program specifically de-
signed for the Apple computer.
With Electric Duet, anyone can
create harmonious compositions —
or play a Lutus original — utilizing
five octaves, four instrument voices,
and either the built-in Apple speaker
or an auxiliary sound system.
Electric Duet. It's the perfect
accompaniment to the GraFORTH
animation program, a versatile in-
strument for the budding composer,
and a lot of fun for everyone.
GraFORTH. TransFORTH. Electric
Duet. They're exciting new dimen-
sions in programming, developed by
Paul Lutus exclusively for Insoft.
soft'
"Plotting function requires the Hewlett-Packard 7470
plotter and a GraFORTH plotter driver.
Apple and Applesoft are registered trademarks of Apple
Computer, Inc. GraFORTH, TransFORTH and Electric Duet
are trademarks of Insoft, Inc.
All products operate on Apple II, II Plus, He and III.
Insoft, Inc.
P.O.Box 608
Beaverton, OR 97075
(503) 641-5223
PUT HEX
VW PERSPECTIVE I
\W PERSPECTIVE I
\W PI RSl^L C : I ive I
IpvA V trvSi tC I l\X f— I
,\.S:S7/V1/i/V LIMES"- THE BOOYC
LIMES THE BOOK
. YSS7 A 1B/ V LIMES "THE. BOCK
ASSEMBLY LIMES THE BOOK
/ASSL/V1B/ V LIMES'- I t \E BOOK
ASSEMBLY LIMES ^THEBOOK
/A SSE/ViBLV LIMES THE BQQVC
Tens of thousands have fol-
lowed this man in his teachings
of Assembly language. Many
have gone on to become re-
nowned hex mavens them-
selves. If you are presently
seeking deeper satisfaction
from a high-level language that
begins to show its limitations,
look no further. The answer
lies within the pages of this
book. Presented in a style that
welcomes the personality and
humanity of the reader. As
Roger (we call him Mr. Wag-
ner) comments in his book:
"Many people have re-
marked that our choice of ten
as a number base is related to
the fact that we have ten fin-
gers on our hands. One can
only guess how a different set
of circumstances would have
profoundly changed our lives.
Speculating, for instance, on
which two commandments
would have been omitted had
we only eight fingers is enough
to keep one awake at night."
Do a little binary explora-
tion. Let this book be your
guide.
Roger Wagner on his recent tour
of New Guinea
Assembly Lines: The Book
272 pages
ISBN 88701-000-8
$19.95
Softalk Books
P.O. Box 60
North Hollywood, CA
91603
Please add $1 .50 shipping/handling
per book ordered ($21 .45 total).
California residents add 6.5 percent
sales tax ($22.75 total).
MAY 1984
185
F-A—S T-A-LK
Fastalk is a quick guide to popular, specialized,
new, and classic software. When you need a particu-
lar kind of program or just want to see what's new,
Fastalk is the place to look for fast answers.
If a program has been reviewed in Softalk, it car-
ries the issue date of the review in italics at the end of
its listing, and the capsule description given reflects
the published review.
A new software entry, which must be of profes-
sional quality to be included, is designated by a check
mark preceding its name. A new entry loses its check
mark after its first appearance and drops out of
Fastalk after one to three appearances (depending on
genre) if it fails to gain popularity.
A bullet preceding a title indicates a program that
Softalk has designated as a classic, based on its ability
to stand up over time, its significance for its time
(breaking new ground or introducing a new genre), or
its archetypal qualities.
Other entries in Fastalk are there either by virtue
of current activity (the programs are selling at least as
much as the least-selling entry on any of the bestseller
charts) or because they are representative of the best
of programs for a special interest or need (such as
card games or non-Basic-specific language terminal
programs).
Softalk may arbitrarily omit any package from
Fastalk, whether or not it meets the foregoing
criteria.
Adventure
Adventuresome story games in which players must deduce
commands, make maps, and solve logical puzzles.
• Adventure. Crowther, Woods. The original text
adventure, created on mainframe, contributed to by
many over a long time. Very logical within fantasy
framework, excellent puzzles, maps; complex, con-
voluted, and great. Several publishers: Microsoft,
10700 Northup Wy., Bellevue, WA 98004. $28.95.
Apple, 20525 Mariani Ave., Cupertino, CA 95014.
$35. Frontier Computing, Box 402, 666 N. Main St.,
Logan, UT 84321. $10.
The Coveted Mirror. Berns, Thomason. Nicely
drawn characters, arcade subgames, and fun, logical
puzzles enliven nonviolent medieval adventure. Hu-
morous and animated. Penguin, Box 311, Geneva, IL
60134. $34.95. 11/83.
✓ Crypt of Medea. Britto, Lamb. A real horror
adventure: blood and body parts are everywhere,
death loiters in every shadow. Thin plot. Not for the
squeamish; not to be played just before, or just after,
meals. Sir-tech, 6 Main St., Ogdensburg, NY 13669.
$34.95. 4/84.
• Cyborg. Berlyn. Text adventure with brief action
skill game hidden in plot. As a futuristic part man,
part robot, you're lost in a strange forest, desperately
needing food and power. At its release, in its realism
and use of true plot, Cyborg represented one of the
most significant advances in adventuring since the
original Adventure. Sentient, Box 4929, Aspen, CO
81612. $32.95. 11/81.
Deadline. Blank, Lebling. Episode one in a series of
murder mysteries by the authors of the Zork trilogy.
Includes inspector's casebook, lab report. Text. In-
focom, 55 Wheeler St., Cambridge, MA 02138.
$49.95. 8/82.
Death in the Caribbean. Hess, Hess. Challenging
quest for pirate treasure features a mischievous ghost,
huge maze, lush graphics. Well worth it. Micro Lab,
2699 Skokie Valley Rd., Highland Park, IL 60035.
$35. 9/83.
Enchanter. Blank, Lebling. First of trilogy sequel to
Zorks expands interaction with other characters, goes
above ground, increases use of logical magic. No big
breakthroughs, but simply delightful. Infocom, 55
Wheeler St., Cambridge, MA 02138. $49.95. 9/83.
• Hi-Res Adventure #1: Mystery House. Williams.
Whodunit in a Victorian mansion. First adventure
with pictures. Two- word parser with logical com-
prehension. Sierra On-Line, Sierra On-Line Building,
Coarsegold, CA 93614. $24.95.
• Hi-Res Adventure #2: The Wizard and the
Princess. Williams, Williams. The king has offered
half his kingdom to the one who will bring back the
kidnapped princess. Cross mountains, deserts; battle
the wizard to claim your reward. Sierra On-Line,
Sierra On-Line Building, Coarsegold, CA 93614.
$32.95. 11/80.
Infidel. Berlyn. Excellent puzzles and a surprising
bad-guy hero in well- written treasure hunt. Infocom,
55 Wheeler St., Cambridge, MA 02138. $49.95.
11/83.
Kabul Spy. Wilson. Cold War espionage adventure
in which you must slip into Afghanistan to rescue a
physicist before the commies make him talk. Sirius,
10364 Rockingham Dr., Sacramento, CA 95827.
$34.95.
Planetfall. Meretzky. A lovable robot steals the show
in this science-fiction text adventure. Includes many
outstanding puzzles, rich, colorful, intelligent text.
Infocom, 55 Wheeler St., Cambridge, MA 02138.
$49.95. 8/83.
• Prisoner 2. Mullich, EduWare. Totally reland-
scaped but loyal version of original game: full-color
hi-res graphics added, puzzles reworded, obstacles
expanded. Sophisticated and difficult exercise in in-
timidation with elements of satire. Escape from an
island requires player to solve logical puzzles, over-
come obstacles, and answer riddles. Excellent com-
puter fare; nothing else like it. Peachtree Software,
3445 Peachtree Rd. N.E., #830, Adanta, GA 30326.
$32.95. The Prisoner, 3/81; Prisoner 2, 10/82.
The Quest. Snell, Toler, Rea. As the king's newest
advisor, you must accompany a champion on a
dragon-slaying mission. Champion, parser accept ad-
vice in full and multiple sentences. Penguin, Box 311,
Geneva, IL 60134. $34.95. 9/83.
• S.A.G.A. Series. Adams. Scott Adams's pro-
totypical adventures— 12 in all— spruced up with
100-color graphics and Votrax vocals. Fun, not
always logical, very story-oriented series. Each
adventure has its own theme and often exotic locale.
They map small but score big on imagination. Adven-
ture International, Box 3435, Longwood, FL 32750.
$29.95 each. 7/82.
S Sorcerer. Meretzky. Sequel to Enchanter. Navi-
gate a 3-D maze, part the Red Sea, wax floors, avoid
traps, and cast spells to rescue the guild master from a
demon. Delightful. Infocom, 55 Wheeler St., Cam-
bridge, MA 02138. $49.95.
Starcross. Science-fiction prose adventure that comes
wrapped in a flying saucer. Set in the year 2186, main
puzzle is to discover raison d 'etre of miniworld aster-
oid. Likable, engaging. Superior puzzles. Infocom,
55 Wheeler St., Cambridge, MA 02138. $39.95.
11/82.
Suspended. Berlyn. Well-plotted adventure demands
control of six independent robots who can act
simultaneously. Intelligent, challenging exercise in
logic. A milestone. Infocom, 55 Wheeler St., Cam-
bridge, MA 02138. $49.95. 4/83.
• Swordthrust Series. Set of adventures, seven so
far, that integrate fantasy role playing. Create one
character, make friends in each new adventure, battle
monsters and achieve goals together. Good stories,
fun to map. Vocabulary no mystery, but puzzles are.
Single character goes through all. CE Software, 801
73rd St., Des Moines, IA 50312. Number 1 pre-
requisite for rest. Each adventure, $29.95. 8/82.
Transylvania. Antiochia. Some of best graphics ever
in a hi-res adventure. Excellent puzzles and logic— no
unfair tricks. Enjoyable. Penguin, Box 311, Geneva,
IL 60134. $34.95. 10/82.
Witness. Galley. Interactive mystery adventure set in
1938 reflects the style of pulp detective fiction popu-
lar then. Fun packaging and fun to play, although less
complex than Deadline. A good step forward for an
infant genre. Infocom, 55 Wheeler St., Cambridge,
MA 02138. $49.95 . 7/83.
• Zork I, H, ffl. Blank, Lebling. Text lives! Three
masterpieces of logic and grand adventure to revel in.
Hard, logical puzzles with erudite parser that
understands complete compound sentences and ques-
tions, has amazing vocabulary. / and // use standard
scoring, standard goals; /// has unique point system,
and benevolence pays. Infocom, 55 Wheeler St.,
Cambridge, MA 02138. $39.95. Zork I, 6/81; Zork
II, 3/82; Zork III, 9/82.
Business
<^ AppleWorks. Lissner. Word processor, database,
and spreadsheet— each full-size, full-featured. Holds
several files on "desktop." Proportionally spaced
type. A winner. For lie, lie. Apple, 20525 Mariani
Ave., Cupertino, CA 95014. $250. 4/84.
BPI General Accounting. Performs like General
Ledger. Prints checks, permits greater flexibility in
handling accounts, produces 40 reports. 80 columns.
Apple, 20525 Mariani Ave., Cupertino, CA 95014.
$395.
BPI System. Popular six-module business package;
programs also available separately. Includes General
Ledger (a bestseller), accounts receivable, accounts
payable, payroll, inventory control, and job costing.
Apple, 20525 Mariani Ave., Cupertino, CA 95014.
$395 each; job costing, $595.
dBase II. Speedy relational database management
system. Requires SoftCard. Ashton-Tate, 9929 W.
Jefferson Blvd., Culver City, CA 90230. $700.
is Expense Account Manager. Tracks yearly
expenses— such as business trips, including mileage,
lodging, places visited, purpose of trip, business-
related entertainment— for tax and other record-
keeping purposes. Easily customized. Adaptive, 1868
Cavell Ave., Highland Park, IL 60035. $150.
Magicalc. Graves. Electronic spreadsheet with
automatic page formatting and support of additional
memory boards up to 512K. Compatible with Visi-
Calc and Magic Window II. Artsci, 5547 Satsuma
Ave., North Hollywood, CA 91601. $149.95. 11/83.
Multiplan. Easy-to-learn electronic worksheet using
plain-English commands. Powerful modeling and
presentation capabilities. For use in analysis,
forecasting, technical engineering, and the home.
Versions 1.04 and up use 80 columns and extended
memory on the lie. Microsoft, 10700 Northup Wy.,
Bellevue, WA 98004. $275.
PFS:File. Page, Roberts. User controls data in totally
unstructured database. Up to 32 pages (screens) of in-
formation in each record. He version has 80 columns,
u/lc. Software Publishing, 1901 Landings Dr., Moun-
tain View, CA 94043. $125. 10/80.
PFS:Graph. Chin, Hill. Works alone or interfaces
TRADE SOFTWARE YOU NO LONGER WANT
FOR PROGRAMS YOU DO WANT- AND SAVE!
Join The National Software Exchange-Charter Membership only $10.00!
Current Software Exchange List
As a Member of The National Software
Exchange, you can make as many ex-
changes as you wish-for software of
equal value. The money you save on
your first exchange or purchase will
more than pay for your whole year's
Membership! And your satisfaction is
guaranteed-or your money back.
Our only charge to you is $5.00 for
each software program you send us for
exchange, plus handling and postage.
We exchange only original software, ac-
companied by original documentation.
And our Current Software Exchange
List gives you a choice of over 100 dif-
ferent programs to send us or ask for.
This list will be expanded regularly to
include additional current programs.
As a Member of The National
Software Exchange, you will enjoy
these additional benefits:
■ Up to 47% off list price on our Pro-
grams of the Month! See listing inside
coupon.
■ Deep discounts on computers, printers,
modems and other peripherals. Com-
pare our prices. You'll be glad you did!
See list and savings inside coupon.
Nobody gives you more for your money-
in more different ways than The National
Software Exchange. To join and get
in on the savings, return the Sign-Up
form now.
The National
Software Exchange Inc.
74 Trinity Place, Suite 1811, New York, NY 10006
All the software programs listed here are acceptable for exchange until 8/31/84. Please be
sure that the value of software you send us equals the value of programs you request.
PROGRAMS
VALUE
COMPUTERS
PROGRAMS
VALUE
COMPUTERS
Coveted Mirror
19 95
AP
Gumball
29 95
AP
Cyborq
32-95
AR AT COM, PC
Lode Runner
34 95
AR AT, COM
Dark Crystal
37 95
AP, AT
Miner 2049er
39 95
AP PC
Deadline
49 95
AR AT, COM, PC
Minit Man
19 95
AP
Death in the
Caribbean
35 00
AP
Pinball Construction
Set
39 95
AP
Enchanter
49 95
AR AT COM, PC
Raster Blaster
29 95
AP
Mystery House
1995
AP
Upper Reaches
1995
ARAT, COM,
PC
Wizard & Princes
29 95
AR AT
of Apshai
Infidel
49 95
AR AT COM, PC
Serpentine
34 95
AP AT COM
PC
Masquerade
34 95
AP
Seafox
29 95
AR AT, COM
Planettall
49 95
AP AT, COM, PC
Shamus
34 95
AP AT. COM
Prisoner 2
32.95
AR AT
Sneaker
29 95
AR AT
Quest
19 95
AP
Spare Chanqe
34 95
AP
SAGA Series
39 95
AP, AT
Super Bunny
29 95
AP
Starcross
39 95
AR AT, COM, PC
Match & Social
Studies
19 95
AP, PC
Suspended
49 95
AP, AT, COM, PC
Wayout
39 95
AP, AT
Atlantis
39 95
AP
EduWare Algebras
39 95
AP. PC
Witness
49.95
AR AT COM, PC
Alphabet Zoo
29 95
AP AT COM
PC
Zorkl, II, III
39 95
AR AT COM, PC
EduWare Decimals
49 95
AP
Ultima I
34 95
AR AT
Delta Drawinq
49 95
AR AT, COM
PC
Ultima II
59 95
AR AT
Pacemaker
34 95
AR AT, COM
PC
Ultima III
59 95
ARAT.C0M, PC
Game Show
39 95
AR PC
Wizardry
49 95
AR PC
Hey Diddle Diddle
29 95
AP AT COM
PC
Wizardry: Knights of
Diamonds
34 95
AP
Hiqhrise
30 00
AP
Wizardry: Legacy of
Llylqamyn
39 95
AP
In Search of Most
Amazinq Thinq
39 95
AR AT, COM
PC
Odyssey
30 00
AP
Kindercomp
29 95
AR AT, COM
PC
Temple of Apshai
39 95
AR AT, COM, PC
Master Match
39 95
AR PC
Alien Rain
24 95
AP
Sports Facts
19 95
AP
Apple Panic
29 95
AR AT, PC
Rhymes & Riddles
29 95
AP AT, COM
PC
Sherwood Forest
34 95
AP
Rocky 's Boots
49 95
AP
Bouncing Kamunnas 19 95
AP
Snooper Troops
44 95
AP AT COM
PC
Buzzard Bait
34.95
AR PC
Stickybear ABC
39.95
AP
Cavern Creatures
29.95
AP
Stickybear Numbers 39 95
AP
Choplifter
34 95
AR AT, COM
Stickybear Bop
39.95
AP
Crime Wave
19 95
AP
Stickybear Shapes
39 95
AP
Crossfire
29 95
AP, AT PC
Stickybear
Opposites
39 95
AP
Dino Eggs
40 00
AP, AT, COM, PC
Story Machine
34 95
AR AT COM
PC
Oral
34.95
AP, AT, TJOM
Tic Tac Show
39 95
AP PC
Fat City
39 95
AP
Type Attack
39 95
AR AT. COM
PC
Froqger
34 95
ARAT.C0M, PC
Typinq Tutor II
24 95
AP
Gorqon
39 95
AP
Broadsides
39 95
AP
PROGRAMS
VALUE COMPUTERS
Casino
3 <j
:)S
AP
Castle Wolfenstein
29
95
AP
AT. PC
Chivalry
49
95
AP
Computer Ambush
59
95
AP
Computer Baseball
39
95
AP
COM, PC
Eagles
39
95
AP
AT COM
Fliqht Simulator II
33
50
AP
AT. COM
Fortress
34
95
AR
AT
Solitaire & Cribbaqe
34
95
AP
Millionaire
59
95
AP
AT, PC
North Atlantic '86
59
95
AP
Pensate
19
95
AP
AT COM
Sarqon III
49
95
AP
PC
Titan Empire
34
MS
AP
Othello: Odin
49
95
AP
AT. COM.
PC
Chess
69
95
AP
AT COM
PC
Checkers
49
95
AP
AT COM.
PC
Music Maker
39
95
AP
Mask of the Sun
39
95
AP
AE
34
95
AP
AT
BC's Quest for Tires
34
95
AR
AT
Wizard of Words
39
95
AP
Cannonball Blitz
29
95
AP
COM
Aztec
39
95
AP
COM
Cranston Manor
29
95
AP
MicroMath Series
29
95
AP
AT COM
Bandits
34
95
AP
AT
Success with Math
Series
24
95
AP
AT. COM
Crisis Mountain
34
95
AP
AT
Transylvania
19
95
AP
Gold Rush
34
95
AP
AT
SATEnqlishl.il, III
30
00
AP
COM (I only)
Murder By The
Dozen
34
95
AP,
COM. PC
Police Artist
34
95
AP
Story Builder
24
95
AP
AT, COM.
PC
Spy's Demise
19
95
AP
AT COM
Reading
Comprehension
24
95
AR
AT
Snack Attack
29
95
AR
PC
AP= Apple AT=Atan
COM = Commodore PC -IBM PC
Join now... and save!
The National Software Exchange Inc. ia Trinity Place, suite isn, New York, ny 10006
ST
□ YES. I want to join the National Software Exchange at
the special Charter Membership rate of just $10.00 for a
one-year Membership. Please send me my Membership
Card plus list of Exchange Benefits.
Complete Numbers 1 and 2 if you are sending software for
exchange. Complete Numbers 3 and 4 if you are ordering
Programs of the Month or eguipment at our special dis-
counts. Complete Number 5 on all exchanges and orders.
■J _ I am sending you the following original software
" diskette(s) in good working order, plus original docu-
mentation for exchange, (No more than 1 program of
a kind). Please list program title and dollar value from
the Current Software Exchange List.
3_ I want to purchase your Programs of the Month that I have
" checked, at up to 47% off list price.
5# Please enclose check or money order with this Sign-Up
' Coupon plus any software you wish to exchange.
1
$
2
$
3
$
Total value of software I am sending
$ !
Dig Dug
JAV35~
$ 34.95
Centipede
JA+*S%~
$ 34.95
Ms Pac-Man
$ 38 95
Zaxxon
$ 29.95
Lotus I, II. Ill
JOSB-oXT
$325 00
d-Basell
$370.00
Sub-total
$
NY State residents add sales tax
$
Add $2 50 ea. purchase for
shipping & handling
$
PROGRAMS TOTAL
$
1 Year Charter Membership
$10.00
Add $5 fee for each program
you send us for exchange
$
Add $2.50 shipping for each
exchange sent to you
$
Programs of the Month Total (Box 3)
$
Equipment Total (Box 4)
$
TOTAL AMOUNT DUE
s
NAME
ADDRESS
(please print)
CITY
2, Please send me in exchange the original software
programs plus original documentation I have listed
below in order of preference.
I want your deep discount on the equipment I have
checked.
STATE
ZIP
L
First Choices of Programs to send me
$ Value
1
$
2
$
3
S
Total value of software (1 st choice)
$
Second Choices of Programs to send me
$ Value
1
$
2
$
3
$
Total value of software (2nd choice)
$
| JUKI LQ Printer J&Z&ttT
$450.00
Add $1 2 shipping & handling
$
SIGNATURE
Hayes 1200
Baud Modem J$699tl0
$52500
Add $5 shipping & handling
Sub-total
$
$
TELEPHONE (
COMPUTER MAKE
MODEL
NY State residents add sales tax
on purchase prices only
EQUIPMENT TOTAL
IMPORTANT!
Please be certain that the titles of the software you send us
or request from us appear on the Current Software Exchange
List. All prices listed are subject to change without notice.
Also be sure that the value of the software you send us
equals the value of the programs you request.
Allow 4-6 weeks for delivery.
Money Back Guarantee!
J
MAY 1984
sunn
187
with files created with PFS.File and VisiCalc. Pro-
duces bar, line, and pie charts merging data from
several sources. 80 columns and increased graphics
support in He version. Software Publishing, 1901
Landings Dr. , Mountain View , CA 94043 . $ 1 25 . 5/82.
PFSrReport. Page. Powerful report generator
designed for use with PFS:File. Sorts, calculates,
totals, formats, and prints presentation-quality colum-
nar reports. Software Publishing, 1901 Landings Dr.,
Mountain View, CA 94043. $125. 6/81.
Quick File lie. Easy-to-use personal database filing
system that generates reports, sorts. Fifteen fields;
files as long as disk allows. He, two disk drives. Ap-
ple, 20525 Mariani Ave. , Cupertino, CA 95014. $100.
State of the Art System. Standalone or interfaceable
modules for a 12-month accounting period. Includes
General Ledger, Accounts Receivable, Accounts Pay-
able, Payroll, Inventory Control ($495 each), Budget
and Financial Reporting, Sales Invoicing ($395 each),
and Professional Time and Billing ($795). State of the
Art, 3183A Airway Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92626.
Accounts Receivable, 10/83.
TKJSolver. Bricklin, Frankston. Modeling pro-
gram from the creators of VisiCalc. Trades variables
off against one another to find optimum balance of
variables. Converts answers to specified units, gener-
ates tables and graphs quickly. Difficult. Requires
He, extended eighty-column card. Software Arts, 27
Mica Ln., Wellesley, MA 02181. $399. 4/84.
• VisiCalc. Bricklin, Frankston, Software Arts.
Electronic worksheet for any problem involving
numbers, rows, and columns. No programming nec-
essary. VisiCorp, 2895 Zanker Rd., San Jose, CA
95134. $250. 70/80.
VisiCalc Advanced lie. Virtually the same as ad-
vanced version for the Apple HJ. Create spreadsheet
templates, provide uniform approach to forecasting,
budgeting, and planning tasks for an entire organiza-
tion. VisiCorp, 2895 Zanker Rd., San Jose, CA
95134. $400.
VisiTrend/VisiPlot. Kapor. Combines VisiPlot
graphics with time-series manipulation, trend fore-
casting, and descriptive statistics. VisiCorp, 2895
Zanker Rd., San Jose, CA 95134. $259.95. 7/81.
Communications
ASCII Express: The Professional. Robbins, Blue.
Greatly improved version of original modem software
package features automatic redial, individual macro
files, and conversion of Integer, Applesoft, or binary
programs into text files. Works with a plethora of
hardware. United Software Industries, 1880 Century
Pk. E., Los Angeles, CA 90067. $129.95. 12/82.
Data Capture 4.0. Copyable, modifiable smart-ter-
minal program; compatible with Apple HI and most
lower-case adapters. Southeastern Software, 6414
Derbyshire Dr., New Orleans, LA 70126. $65. 7/81.
P-Term: The Professional. Supports all Pascal-
compatible interfaces, asynchronous serial cards,
Apple-compatible modems, and baud rates up to
2400. United Software Industries, 1880 Century Pk.
E., Los Angeles, CA 90067. $129.95.
Smartcom I. For the Micromodem He. Directs
modem to place and answer calls, send and receive
files with three protocols. Sends data to printer, stores
three phone numbers, works with DOS 3.3, Pascal,
and CP/M. Hayes, 5923 Peachtree Industrial Blvd.,
Norcross, GA 30092. $119. With Micromodem He,
$329.
Transend 1, 2, 3. mtelligent-terminal software with
multiple hardware compatibility. Advanced, easy to
use. / sends text only; menu-driven, limited editor. 2
sends DOS files error-free, several files at once. 3
does both and handles electronic mail with automatic
redial, clock calendar, and password protection. Up-
grade: difference in price between two packages plus
$20 service fee. Transend, 2190 Paragon Dr., San
Jose, CA 95131. /, $89; 2, $149; 3, $275. 9/82.
Fantasy
Role-playing games involving characters lhal develop through
experience in adventuresome stories, and whose actions
players determine via set commands.
• Beneath Apple Manor. Worth. The original
dungeon game for the Apple, created in 1978. Newly
released version has hi-res, sound effects, a few more
magic items, but still the classic game. Quality, 21601
Marilla St., Chatsworth, CA 91311. $29.95. 2/83.
Exodus: Ultima III. British. Super third installment
of Ultima saga. Contains many features not found
in Ultima II. Original score, wind and wave mo-
tion, four characters who can interact, tactical com-
bat, and full-color dungeons combine with much more
solid, involved plot to make an engrossing fantasy.
Origin Systems, Box 99, N. Andover, MA 01845.
$54.95. 11/83.
Knight of Diamonds. Greenberg, Woodhead. Se-
cond scenario of Wizardry, requiring thirteenth-level
characters from the original. Individual quests on
each of six dungeon levels. Great. Sir-tech, 6 Main
St., Ogdensburg, NY 13669. $34.95. 7/82.
Legacy of Llylgamyn. Greenberg, Woodhead. Third
scenario in classic Wizardry series. To save Llyl-
gamyn, descendants of the adventurers of other Wiz-
ardry scenarios (requires Overlord) must wrest a mys-
tical orb from the dragon L'kbreth. New full-screen
dungeon, Lisa-like information screens. Sir-tech, 6
Main St., Ogdensburg, NY 13669. $39.95 . 7/83.
• Odyssey: The Compleat Apventure. Clardy. Fan-
tasy adventure far beyond one place and one setting.
Castles, catacombs, an ocean voyage, and the orb of
power. Synergistic, 830 N. Riverside Dr., #201,
Renton, WA 98055. $30. 70/80.
Standing Stones. Schmuckal, Sommers. Fifteen
levels, 200 monsters, humor, and 3-D perspective in
dungeon role-playing adventure. Electronic Arts,
2755 Campus Dr., San Mateo, CA 94403. $40.
• Temple of Apshai. Lead title in Dunjonquest
series, winner 1981 Academy of Adventure Gaming
Arts and Design "Computer Game of the Year"
award. Epyx/ Automated Simulations, 1043 Kiel Ct.,
Sunnyvale, CA 94086. $39.95.
• Ultima. British. Hi-res color adventure, progress-
ing from Middle Ages to beyond the space age. A
masterpiece. California Pacific, 757 Russell Blvd.,
Davis, CA 95616. $39.95. 6/87.
Ultima II. British. Faster play in a bigger universe
with a time-travel option. Typically British look and
feel. Events are much more interdependent; larger
realm of fantasy with more transactions available.
Sierra On-Line, Sierra On-Line Building, Coarse-
gold, CA 93614. $59.95.
• Wilderness Campaign. Clardy. First fantasy game
to leave the dungeon for the great outdoors; first in hi-
res; first to bargain with merchants; and more. Syner-
gistic, 830 N. Riverside Dr., #201, Renton, WA
98055. $17.50.
• Wizardry. Greenberg, Woodhead. Ultimate role-
playing fantasy; ten-level maze in hi-res. Generate 20
characters, six at a time on expeditions. Gripping
game; superbly reproduced. Sir-tech, 6 Main St.,
Ogdensburg, NY 13669. $49.95. 8/87.
Graphics
Alpha Plot. Kersey, Cassidy. Hi-res graphics and
text utility with optional xdraw cursor and propor-
tional spacing. Beagle Bros, 4315 Sierra Vista, San
Diego, CA 92103. $39.50.
The Complete Graphics System. Pelczarski. A
wealth of graphics tools at a reasonable price. Make
2-D drawings with game paddles; add text in destruc-
tive, nondestructive, or reverse modes; create 3-D
figures and shape tables. Manual features complete
outline of command structure. Penguin, Box 311,
Geneva, IL 60134. $69.95. 7/87.
Doublestuff. Bonfiglio, Joselow. Programming
language similar to Applesoft designed for use with
Apple's stunning double-resolution modes. Requires
lie with B motherboard, 128K. Doublestuff Software
Development, 2053 W. 11th St., Brooklyn, NY
11223. $39.95. 72/85.
Flow Charting. Patton. Elegantly solves problems of
designing and printing flowcharts. Fun, easy-to-use,
powerful. Patton and Patton, 340 Lassenpark Circle,
San Jose, CA 95136. $138. 72/83.
Flying Colors. Albinger, Norby. Track ball or joy-
stick controls eleven brush-tips, sixteen diagonal and
crosshatched color patterns, four solid colors, two
blacks, two whites, circle and box functions, freehand
drawing, and a micro mode for detail work. Friendly
and fun. Computer Colorworks, 3030 Bridgeway,
Sausalito, CA 94965. $39.95. 3/84.
Fontpak 1-3. Additional character sets for use with
Fontrix. Fontpak 1 for headline and decorative type,
Fontpak 2 for art and technical type, Fontpak 3 for
letterforms and posters. Data Transforms, 616 Wash-
ington St., Denver, CO 80203. $20 each.
Fontrix. Boker, Houston. Character generator cre-
ates unlimited number of typefaces, uses them to
write on a screen extended 16 times. Extremely sig-
nificant development in graphics. Data Transforms,
616 Washington St., Denver, CO 80203. $75. 7/83.
The Graphics Magician. Jochumson, Lubar, Pel-
czarski. Outstanding animation package consisting of
picture editor and shape-table extender. Comes with
utility program to transfer binary files. Penguin, Box
311, Geneva, IL 60134. $59.95. 5/82.
The Graphic Solution. Graphics editor and bit-
mapping animation system using film-editing tech-
niques. Save hi-res screen as standard DOS file. No
programming knowledge necessary. Accent, 3750
Wright PI., Palo Alto, CA 94306. $149.95 . 7/83.
• LPS II. Superb hi-res-graphics drawing system
Maxell
Floppy Disks
The Mini-Disks
with maximum quality
Call free
(800) 235-4137 for
prices and information.
PACIFIC
EXCHANGES
100 Foothill Blvd
San Luis Obispo CA
93401 In Cal call
(800)592-5935 or
(805)543-1037
188
with light pen. Draw freehand or use circles and lines
to create geometric shapes. Fill routine with colors
and patterns; fun animation demo; programmable
Pentrak driver. Gibson, 23192-D Verdugo Dr., La-
guna Hills, CA 92653. $349. 10/82.
Picture Writer. Brackett. Intended for kids five
through fifteen. Uses joystick to draw lines, draw and
squeeze circles and rectangles. Twenty-one colors,
musical accompaniment. Possibly too difficult to con-
trol for targeted users. Requires 64K. Scarborough
Systems, 25 N. Broadway, Tarrytown, NY 10591.
$39.95. 3/84.
Special Effects. Pelczarski. Artist's graphic package
for creating and enhancing computer graphics. With
108 colors, 96 brushes, magnification and editing
point-by -point. Reverse colors, create mirror images,
move images. Penguin, Box 311, Geneva, IL 60134.
$39.95. 3/82.
Zoom Grafix. Holle. Graphics-printing utility allows
display of picture on-screen prior to print; prints out
selected portion at any size. Phoenix, 64 Lake Zurich
Dr., Lake Zurich, IL 60047. $39.95. 2/82.
Unnm
MAY 1984
Home
Basic Accounting. Jarvis. Single-entry home ac-
counting program, ideal for home budgeting. Per-
forms inventories and automatic transactions, pro-
vides graphics and a wide variety of reports. File
names up to twenty-five characters. Firefighter,
31245 La Bay a Dr., Westlake Village, CA 91362.
$89. 4/84.
• Crossword Magic. Crossword puzzle maker.
Choose subject, words, and clues; program automat-
ically connects words. Play on-screen or make print-
out. L&S Computerware, 1589 Fraser Dr., Sunny-
vale, CA 94087. $49.95. 10/81.
Dollars and Sense. Mullin. Establishes budgets,
writes checks, reminds to pay bills. Uses graphs,
reports to analyze cash flow, balance sheets, make
year-to-date summaries, expense projections. Mono-
gram, 8295 S. La Cienega Blvd., Inglewood, CA
90301. $100.
Golf Statistician. Haberle. Helps golfers lower their
scores by examining their strengths and weaknesses.
GolfSoft, 10333 Balsam Ln., Eden Prairie, MN
55344. $34.95.
Home Accountant. Schoenburg. Thorough, power-
ful home finance program. Monitors five checking ac-
counts against a common budget, plus credit cards
and cash; one-step record or transfer of funds. Con-
tinental, 11223 S. Hindry Ave., Los Angeles, CA
90045. $74.95. 4/82.
^ Internist. Based on the Merck Manual, assesses
450 symptoms to assist in diagnosis of 331 common
diseases. Prints diagnoses and references. Requires
64K. N-Squared, 5318 Forest Ridge Rd., Silverton,
OR 97381. $95.
Match-Wits. Cooper. An engrossing and educa-
tional variation of the TV show Concentration. Try to
score points by matching items and by guessing the
phrase represented in pictures and numbers. Cat-
egories include famous people, sports, and others.
CBS Software, 1 Fawcett PI., Greenwich, CT 06836.
$29.95. 3/84.
Micro Cookbook. Recipe-management system
allows entry and modification; selection of recipes by
common ingredients, name, or classification. Calorie
and nutrition guide. Virtual Combinatics, Box 755,
Rockport, MA 01966. $40. 6/83.
Money Street. Easy-to-use checkbook financial
system for small business, office, or home use. Keeps
books, tracks deductions, helps cut expenses. CTS,
Box 4845, Incline Village, NV 89450. $99.95. 9/83.
Music Construction Set. Harvey. Interactive music
composition and learning tool allows user to create
music or experiment with included music library.
Electronic Arts, 2755 Campus Dr., San Mateo, CA
94403. $40. 12/83.
Oddsmaker. Zieg. Do-it-yourself parimutuel betting
system for office pools, sporting events, you name it.
Allows for up to fourteen pools, prints tickets,
calculates odds. CZ Software, 358 Forest Rd., South
Yarmouth, MA 02664. $44.95. 3/84.
Tax Advantage. Assists with Form 1040 and re-
lated tax schedules. Simulates the 1040 on-screen,
averages income, explains each item on the form.
Continental, 11223 S. Hindry Ave., Los Angeles, CA
90045. $69.95.
Tax Preparer. Record-keeping program with wide
variety of federal tax forms and schedules; creates
itemized lists. Yearly updates. Howard Software,
8008 Girard Ave., #310, La Jolla, CA 92037. $225.
3/81.
Time Is Money. Flexible personal accounting
package. Checkbook balancing with a full statement
on-screen. Tracks up to 240 separate assets and
liabilities. Turning Point, 11A Main St., Watertown,
MA 02172. $100. 4/84.
WordWorx. Christie, Weisberg. Fun-with-language
program composed of two parts: Myspellery explains
why ghoti is pronounced "fish"; Sentence Maker
tests knowledge of common mottoes and expressions.
Fun for eighth-graders and grad students alike. Res-
ton Publishing, 11480 Sunset Hills Rd., Reston, VA
22090. $34.95. 3/84.
Home-Arcade
Fast-action skill games; may include elements of fantasy.
• Alien Rain. Suzuki. Monsters in this classic seem
to take it personally when you gun down one of their
own kind. Broderbund, 17 Paul Dr., San Rafael, CA
ALF COPY SERVICE
Denver, CO 8021 5 (303) 234-0871
1315F Nelson Street
FAST • RELIABLE
LOW COST
If you produce software, ALF's disk copying service is the quick,
convenient answer to your duplication needs. Most orders are shipped in
less than a week. Every disk we copy is verified bit by bit and guaranteed
100% flawless.
We can copy virtually any soft-sectored mini format. Standard
formats: Apple II (including nibble-copy proof, double-boot, and fast load),
Apple III, Atari, IBM PC, Kaypro, NEC PC8000, Osborne, TRS-80 I and III,
Zenith Z-90 and Z-100, and more. Copy protection is available for most
formats.
Our "no frills" pricing means you don't have to buy extras you don't
need— set-up charges start at $10, and copying charges are 30<p to 40<p per
side. (See blank disk prices at right. Minimum: 50 copies.) Quantity dis-
counts available for large orders.
Of course, we have the frills too: label application, 3-hole vinyl pages,
printing of labels and sleeves, shrink packaging, heat sealing, and much
more. We can put your product in a customized package— vinyl folder or
IBM-style binder/slip case— for a low price in small or large quantities.
ALF is one of the oldest and most trusted names in the duplication
business. ALF designs and manufactures copying machines that other
copying services and software publishers around the world rely on every
day. Our complete understanding of duplication technology assures you
of the finest reproduction available.
We're eager to solve your duplication and packaging problems —
whether you want one service or a total package. Give us a call
today!
BLANK DISKS
ALF buys large quantities of
disks for our disk copying service—
and we can pass our savings on to
you. If you're buying hundreds of
disks, ALF is your ideal source for
top quality disks at a reasonable
price. We buy our disks in bulk
packages, avoiding the expense of
fancy printing and labeling.
The disks listed below are 5 1/4",
single sided, double density (except
as noted), unlabeled, with hub re-
inforcement ring. Other disks are
available, call for details.
3M
MEMOREX
NASHUA
NASHUA
(single density)
VERBATIM
$165 per 100
$165 per 100
$160 per 100
$140 per 100
$190 per 100
Without sleeves: add $2.50
shipping per 100.
With tyvek sleeves: add $7 plus
$2.50 shipping per 100.
Packed in boxes of 10 with tyvek
sleeves: add $15 plus $3.00
shipping per 100.
. INVENTORIES,
Formerly
Computer Exchange
LOW PRICES TO PROFESSIONALS WHO KNOW WHA T THEY WANT AND KNOW HOW TO USE IT!
ALL MAIL: Conroy-LaPointe, Inc. 12060 SW Garden Place, Portland, OR 97223
HARDWARE for your
APPLE
• 1984 by Conroy-LaPointe, Inc.
All Righte Reserved
SHOWROOMS AT: PORTLAND, OR and SEATTLE, WA - BOTH OPEN M-SAT 10-6
APPLE He. 128K. 80 COLUMN
APPLE lie, STARTER SYSTEM BY APPLE
CALL
CALL
APPLE MACINTOSH CALL
U«*ITED WARRANTY is 100% Parts S Labor lor 90 days by us
DISK DRIVES
//-sci
* A2, 143K Disk Drive
A2 Controller Card
* A4tt 160K. Drive
* A 70, 286K. Drive
A40A70 Controller
1/2 HIGH ALPS, A40. Belt Drive, 163K
noiUCC TEAC. T40, Direct Drive, 163K
univta TEAC T8a Oouble Slded 32f
Controller Card by ComX
Rana Elite 1, 163K. 40 Track
— — Elite 2. 326K, 80 Track
m£ Elite 3. 652K. 160 Track
■™ Elite Controller
RAM EXPANSION
* ALS, ADD Ram (11+) 16K $ 100
*ComX.80col +64K RAM,for lie, lYrWty $ 199
* RAM Card. 1 Yr Wty (11+) 16K $ 179
* Microsoft, RAM Card (11+) 16K $100
* Titan/Saturn RAM Card (11+) 32K $249
RAM Card (11+) 64K $425
RAM Card (11+) 128K $599
$ 299
$249
$ 20
t 15
$ 479
$229
$ 100
$ 79
$ 449
$299
$ 599
$299
$ 100
$ 79
$ 299
$199
$ 349
$219
$ 449
$329
$ 110
$ 59
$ 379
$259
$ 649
$429
$ 849
$539
$ 145
$ 89
$ 49
$ 99
$ 39
$ 69
$169
$299
$399
* ALS. Smarterm ll(+ore) SPECIAL $ 179
* ComX. 80col +64K RAM(lle) 1 yr wty $199
Videx, Videolerm 80 col
* UltraTerm (+ore)
Sort Video Switch
Enhancer II (11+)
Function Strip (11+)
We Have Full Videx Line Call
or e)
+)
$279
$ 379
$ 35
$ 149
$ 39
Up lo 35'
MISCELLANEOUS
ALS, The CP/M Card V3.0 (+ or e) $399
Z Card (+ or e) $169
AS TAR. RF Modulator, to use TV $ 35
* CCS. Serial Interface 7710 (Set BAUD) $ 150
Chalkboard, Power Pad $ 100
Eastside, Wild Card (copier, 1 1 + only) $ 1 1 0
Wild Card 2 (copier, + or e) $140
Kensington, System Saver $ 90
Key Tronic, KB200 keyboard (11+) $ 298
Koala, Touch Tablet w /Micro Illustrator $ 125
Kraft. Joystick (Ap 11/11+) $ 65
Paddle(Ap 11/11+) $ 50
M&R, Sup R tan (+ or e| $ 50
* Microsoft. Z80 Softcard (+ or e) $ 345
* Z80 Softcard Plus |+ ore) $465
* Z80 Softcard Premium(ll+) $695
* ZSOSoftcard Premium(lle) $495
MicroTek, Dumpling 64, Bufler $ 349
* Orange Micro, Grappler Plus (e or +) $ 175
16K Butter Board lor Grappler Plus $ 175
Buttered Grappler Plus, 16K $245
Paymar, Lower Case Chip, Rev 7(11+) $ 50
* PCPI, Apphcard. 14 features 6Mhz $375
RH Electronics, Super Fan II $ 75
* Titan /Saturn, Accelerator II $599
Transend/SSM. AIOII. Serial /Para l/F $ 225
TG Products, Game Paddles (11+) $ 40
Joystick (11+) $ 60
Videx. PSI0 l/F Card $229
WICO. Mouse, Complete $179
$129
$ 99
$189
$279
$ 25
$ 99
$ 29
6 Off,
$279
$109
$219
$ 85
$ 49
$ 39
$ 39
$345
$465
$479
$339
$269
$119
$119
$179
$ 39
$275
$ 59
$449
$169
$ 29
$ 45
$169
$119
SOFTWARE for yotir APPLE
BUSINESS
• Applied Soft Tech., VersaForm $ 389
Artsci, Magic Window II $150
Magic Combo|Wind,Mail&Wr>rds| $225
* Ashton-Tate. dBase II (Req CP/M 80) $ 700
Friday (Requires CP/M 80) $295
BPI Systems, GL,AR.AP,PR or INV.each $ 395
» Broderbund.Bank St Writer or Spell.ea $ 70
Continental, GL.AR.AP or PR, each $ 250
* Home Accountant $ 75
Tax Advantage $ 70
Dow Jones, Market Analyzer $ 350
Market Manager $ 300
Market Microscope $ 700
Fox & Geller. Quickcode or dGraph, ea $ 295
dUtility (for dBase II) $ 99
Hayden, Pie Writer (Specify 80 col bd) $150
* Howard Soft, Tax Preparer, 1984 $ 250
UK, Letter Perfect w/Mail Merge $150
Micro Pro, (all require Z80-CP/M Card)
* WordStar w/applicard &CP/M SPECIAL $ 695
InloStar w/applicard &CP/M SPECIAL $ 695
WordStar'" + Training Manual SPECIAL $495
SpellStar'"or MailMerge'-ea SPECIAL $250
* WordStar Professional, 4 Pak SPECIAL $ 695
Options Pak, SS/MM/SI $295
Microsoft, Multi Plan (CP/M or Apple DOS) $ 250
* Osborne /ComX. (Disk and Book) (Slat , Bus 8, Math)
$259
$. 99
$149
$385
$199
$269
$ 45
$165
$ 49
$ 47
$275
$235
$525
$185
$ 66
$ 99
$185
$ 99
$295
$295
$239
$129
$395
$175
$169
Some Common Basic Programs(75ea ) $100
Practical Basic Progtams(40ea) $ 100
Peachtree, Requires CP/M & MBasic. 64K
Series 40 GL & AR & AP. all 3 $ 395
Perfect.Pertect Writer /Speller 2 pak $ 399
Perfect Filer or Perfect Calc each $ 249
Perfect Writer /Spel/Filer/Calc(4) $969
Pearisoft, Personal Pearl $ 295
Quark. Word Juggler & Lexicheck (lie) $ 189
Sensible, Sen Speller or Bookends, ea $ 125
Sierra /On- Line, ScreenWnter Pro, 2 Pak $ 200
Screenwriter I
The Dictionary NEW1
$ 130
$ 100
Gen Manager II NEW $ 230
Homeword $ 50
* Silicon Valley. Word Handler $ 60
* List Handler $ 50
* Handler Pak (Word, List & Spell) $130
Software Publishing. PFS File $ 125
(specify +ore) PFS Report $ 125
PFS; Graph $ 125
PFS: Write (lie) $ 125
Stoneware. DB Master Version 4 0 $ 350
DB Utility I or II $ 129
Advanced DB Master $ 595
$239
$249
$149
$499
$195
$139
$ 85
$135
$ 89
$ 69
$155
$229
$ 87
$495
VisiCorp. Visicalc 3 3(11 +
Visicalc Enhanced (He)
Visicalc Advanced (lie)
Visifileor VisiDex, each
$250
$250
$295
$250
$169
$179
$210
$179
UTILITY & SYSTEM
Beagle, Apple Mechanic or Diskquik, ea
$ 30
$
22
Double-Take or GPLE, each
$ 35
$
25
Typefaces (Req Ap Mechanic)
DOSS Boss or Utility City, each
$ 20
$
15
$ 30
$
22
Tip Disk HI
$ 20
$
15
Pronto DOSS
$ 30
$
20
Alpha Plot
$ 40
$
27
Central Point. Filer, DOS 3 3 & Util
$ 20
$
15
Copy II Plus (bit copier)
$ 40
$
30
Einstein, Compiler —Applesoft BASIC
$ 129
$
85
Epson, Graphics Dump
$ 15
$
9
Hayes, Terminal Prog (SM or MM,ea )
$ 100
$
65
Insoft, GraFORTH by Paul Lutus
$ 90
$
65
Microsoft, A LD S
$ 125
$
85
Fortran 80
$ 195
$135
COMPLETE MICROSOFT LINE IN STOCK
Omega, Locksmith (bit copier) Ver5 0
$ 100
$
75
Penguin. Complete Graphics System II
$ 70
$
53
Graphics Magician
$ 60
$
41
Phoenix, Zoom Grafix
$ 40
$
34
Quality. Bag ol Tricks
$ 40
$
29
Terrapin, Logo
$ 150
$
99
Utilico. Essential Data Duplicator III
$ 80
$
49
i:r.Vii*i^i.i*MdM?M
Atari. Centipede. PacMan or Donkey K-.ea $ 35
Beagle Bros.. Beagle Bag $ 30
Bluechip, Millionaire $ 60
Brodertxjnd, Choplitter or bde Runner ,ea $ 35
Arcade Machine $ 60
Apple Panic $ 30
BudgeCo , Pinball Constr Set $ 40
* Continental, Home Accountant $ 75
Datasoft, Aztec or Zaxxon, each $ 40
Davidson, Math Blaster1 $ 50
Edu Ware, (Large Inventory)
Hayden, Sargon II (Chess) $ 35
Sargon III (Chess) $ 50
Infocom, Zork 1,11.111. or Starcross. each $ 40
Koala. Full line in stock. CALL
Learning Co., (Large Inventory)
Micro Lab, Miner 2049er $ 40
Microsoft, Typing Tutor $ 25
Monogram, Dollars and $ense $100
Origin, Ultima III $ 60
Scarborough /Lightning, Mastertype $ 40
Sierra /On- Line. Ultima II $ 60
Sir-Tech, Wizardry $ 50
Spinnaker, Kindercomp (others in stock) $ 30
Sub Logic, Flight Simulator II $ 50
28
22
40
25
40
21
27
49
27
34
Call
$ 29
$ 34
$ 27
Call
Call
PRINTER COMBO SALE
* OKI DATA ML 80
80cps, Pin feed, 80 col., 132 col, condensed
96ASCII, Graphics. Parallel List Price $299
COMBO A for Apple or IBM — $549 save $450
ML80 + dBase II
COMBO B tor Apple or IBM— $494 save $500
ML80 + WordStar + Mail Merge + SpellStar+ Star Index
COMBO C for Apple II + /e — $474 save $520
ML80 + Applicard CP/M + 13 Features) + WordStar or InfoStar
COMBO D lor IBM PC - $397 save $550
ML80 + 50Generik'"DS/DD diskettes + Bank Street Writer
Home Accountant Plus + 3 Insolt Trix educational games
COMBO E for Apple II +/e- $291 save $420
ML80 + 50Generik"SS/SD diskettes + Bank Street Writer
Insoft 3 game pak + Home Accountant
SEC PC-8201A $649
Includes word processing and
13 other programs, 32K ROM
& 16K RAM both expandable
lo 64K RS232 Disk, Printer,
Cassette and Bar Code inter
laces built-in, AC or DC Com-
plete line in stock
hllTC Computer. PC8201A. 16K(64K $ 800 $649
niliS* Data Recorder PC8281A $115
Pnnter.PC8221A.Thermal,40col $170
$ 99
$149
★ MEANS A BEST BUY
MONITODC TERMINALS AND
mUll! I VillO ACCESSORIES
LIST
PRICE
$200
$210
$230
$379
$529
$ 199
< AMDEK, 12" Green, #300G
12" Amber, K300A
12" Amber, #310A for IBM-PC
r 13" Color I, Composite
< 13" Color II, RGB. Hi Res
DVM, Color II or III to Apple II l/F
13", Color IV, RGB. 720Hx40CV
NEC. 12" Green, Model 1260MA $ 150
12" Green. Model 1201MA $199
12" Amber. Model 1205MA $210
12"Color,RGB.1216FA(IBM&NEC-PC) $ 599
12" Color, Composite. 1215A(Apple) $399
i PRINCETON, RGB Hi Res, HX 12 $ 795
r RGB Hi Res. SR I 2 $799
x Amber, MAX- 12(Mono Brd.) $249
QUADRAM, Quadchrome 12" RGBColor $ 695
Quadscreen 17" 968x512 $1995
ZENITH, 12" Green, Mdl ZVM123 $200
OUR
PRICE
$135
$149
$169
$289
$439
$175
Call
$109
$149
$159
$449
$299
$499
Can
Call
$495
$1595
$ 99
MODEMS **D
ACCESSORIES
ANCHOR. Signalman MK I (RS232)
Signalman Mark XII
HAYES. IBM-PC Smartmodem 12006
IBM-PC Smartcom II Software
Stack Chronograph (RS-232)
Stack Smartmodem 300|RS232)
Smartmodem 1200 (RS-232)
Micromodem 100 (S- 100 bus)
Micromodem He w/Smartcom
IBM-PC to Modem Cable
NOVATION. IBM-PC Access 1 2-3 Pack
$ 99
$399
$ 599
$ 149
$249
$289
$699
$399
$329
$ 39
$595
$ 75
$269
$439
$109
$189
$225
$535
$275
$239
$ 29
$445
PRINTERS ACCEl
DOT MATRIX:
LIST
PRICE
OUR
PRICE
EPSON, RX80, 100 cps
$ 399
$
299
FX80. 160 cps
$ 699
$
495
FX100. 160 cps
$ 895
$
689
MX100F/T, 80cps, w/Graftrax +
$ 995
$
495
Apple II Graphics Dump
$ 15
$
9
MANNESMANN 160L 80 col 160cps
$ 798
$
568
TALLY. 180L132col 160cps
$1098
$
778
* Spirit, 80 col BOcps
$ 399
$
299
NEC, PC 8023A, FT, 120cps, 80col, para
$ 599
$
439
PC-8025, 120cps, 1 36 col, para
$ 895
$
775
Cable, 8023/8025to IBM-PC
$ 50
$
40
OKIOATA. 82A, 80 col., 120 cps, para
$ 349
Call
83A, 132 col. 120 cps, para
$ 749
Call
92 80col , 160cps, para
$ 599
Call
91 136 col., 160 cps. para
$ 999
Call
2350P,Pacemark, 350cps,para
$2695
Call
2410P,Pacemark, 350cps,para
$2995
Call
ORANGE MICRO,Grappler+, for Apple
$ 165
$
119
PRACTICAL. Mcrobufl In-Une 64K,Para.
$ 349
$
259
Mrcrobuft In-Une 64R.Ser
$ 349
$
259
QUADRAM. Ouadiel Jet Color Printer
Call
» STAR MIC, Gemini 10'X120cps,2 3K
$ 499
$
289
Gemini 15"X,120cps,2 3K
$ 549
$
439
LETTER QUALITY:
NEC. 15LQ. 14cps, Para.w/TF, lOlcol
$ 695
$
525
* TTX 1014, 13cps, Para&Ser, Pin&Fnc
$ 649
$
459
PRINTER INTERFACES and BUFFERS
IBM-PC to Epson or Star Micro Cable $ 60 $ 35
Apple l/F & Cable lor Epson or Gemini $ 95 $ 59
Microlazer, w/Copy. PP. 8MMP8w/PS $189 $139
OUR
PRICE
$239
$ 26
$295
DISKETTES
CDC. 100 ea SS/DD, 40T (Apple. IBM)
lOea SS/DD, 40T (Apple, IBM)
100 ea DS/DD. 40T (IBM, H/P)
lOea DS/DD, 40T (IBM. H/P)
DYSAN. lOeaSS/SD (Apple,*.)
lOea DS/DD 48T(IBM,H/P,etc.)
MAXELL, lOeach, MDL SS/DD
lOeach, MD2 DS/DD
VERBATIM, lOea MD525-01, SS/DD
lOea MD34. DS/DD
GENERIK™ DISKETTES - AS LOW AS $1
W/Jackets, no labels, top quality 90 day limited warranty by us
LIST
PRICE
$550
$ 55
$750
$ 75
$ 69
$ 89
$ 55
$ 75
$ 49
$ 84
lOeaSS/SD, 35 Track (Apple, Atari) $ 42 $ 17
lOOea SS/SD. 35 Track (Apple. Atari) $ 415 $ 130
lOOOea SS/SO, 35 Track (Apple.Atari) $4150 $995
lOea DS/DD, 48TPI (IBM. H/P) $ 63 $ 25
lOOea DS/DD, 48TPI (IBM, H/P) $ 626 $ 170
lOOOea DS/DD. 48TPI (IBM, H/P) $6260 $1400
GENERIK™
DISKETTES
Each at lOOOquantity.
SS/SD $1.00 Each
DS/DD $1.40 Each
f£ 1983 by
ComX Cop.
ftDfiCDIUP .urnDUATIitU AUHTCDUC MAI1 ro 12060 SWG«den Place. Portlmd. Oft 97223 — Include ta1«phon« numb« and double check your figures (or SI&H)
UKUtKiriu I NrUKMA I lUNANUMtKMo: All ilems usually m stock Cashiers Checks, Money Orders, Fortune 1000 Checks and Government Checks, we immediately honor Personal or other Company
Checks allow 20 days to clear No C 0 D Prices reflect a 3% cash discount so ADD 3% lo above pnces lor VISA or MC For U S. Mainland add \X (J5 minimum] lor shipping, msucance and handling (SI&H) by UPS UPS ground
is standard so add 3ft |$10 minimum) more lor UPS Blue lor SI&H Add 12% total ($15 minimum) for SI&H lor US Postal, APO or FPO For Hawaii. Alaska and Canada. UPS is in some areas only, all others are Postal so call, w.rte,
or specify Postal Foreign orders eicept Canada lor SI&H add 18% ($25 minimum) lor SI&H except lor monitors add 30% |$50 minimum) for SI&H All prices, availability and specifications sublet lo errors or change wrfhouf
notice so call to verify All goods are new. include warranty and are guaranteed !o work Due to our low prices and ouf assurance lhat you will gel new unused products ALL SALES ARE FINAL Call belore returning goods lor
repair or replacement Orders received with insutficien! SI&H charges will be relunded ORDER DESK HOURS 6A.M. to 6PM PSI Monday Ihrough Friday and lOlo 4 Saturday 6AM hereis9AM in New York
OUR REFERENCES: We have been in computers and electronics since 195& a compute) dealer since 1978 and in computer mail order since 1980 Banks 1st Interstate Sank. (503) 643-4678 We belong to the
Chamber ol Commerce 1503) 644-0123. and Direct Marketing Association, or call Dunn and Bradstreet if you are a subscriber EconoRAM'" Fastrak'" and Generik '"are trademarks ol ComX Corporation
CASH SCARRY OUTLETS:
Over-the-counter sales only Open Monday through Friday 1000
until 600, Saturday 10 00 until 600
PORTLAND. OREGON— NEW LOCATION1 At Park 217, Tigard at
intersection ol 217 and 99W Coming Irom Portland on 99W. take
immediate left after 21 7 overpass and Teiaco Station Call 620-559$.
SEATTLE. WASH. -3540 128th Ave SE. Bellevue. WA 98006 lei
641-4736. in Loehmanns Plaza near Factona Square SE ot Hwy
405 S 90 and at SE 38th S Richards
OUR AD
#S5
NO SALES TAX
ORDER DESK TOLL FREE
(800) 547-1289
Order Desk Hours: 6AM to 6PM PST
Oregon TOLL FREE
[M0]451-5151
Portland 620-9877
Hot Line For Information
On Your Order
15031 620-9878
FREE GIFT
Mail To: 12060 SW Garden Place, Portland, OR 97223
Use of our order forms qualifies you tor a free
gift with your order Get on our mailing list NAME
now tor order forms, and our new newsletter
and sales specials announcement. Our ADDRESS
customers are already on our list
COUPON city _
STATE .
ZIP.
190
94903. $29.95. 9/81.
• Apple Panic. Serki. Rid a five-story building of
crawling apples and butterflies by running up and
down connecting ladders, digging traps, then cover-
ing critters before they devour you. Extremely addic-
tive, excellent hi-res play. Broderbund, 17 Paul Dr.,
San Rafael, CA 94903. $29.95. 9/81.
^ B.C.'s Quest for Tires. Grey. Jump over rocks
and potholes, bounce across a river on the backs of
turtles, fly over lava, confront a dinosaur, in an effort
to save the first woman. Cartoon look, slow play.
Sierra On-Line, Sierra On-Line Building, Coarse-
gold, CA 93614. $34.95.
Beagle Bag. Kersey. Twenty games and miscellany,
written in Basic and unprotected. Great humor, good
two-player games. Manual is worth the price of ad-
mission. Beagle Bros, 4315 Sierra Vista, San Diego,
CA 92103. $29.50. 1/83.
Bouncing Kamungas. Becklund. Sound is okay,
animation good, premise original, action intense. One
of Penguin's best arcaders. Penguin, Box 311, Gene-
va, IL 60134. $29.95. 12/83.
Centipede. Save the mushroom patch from invading
centipedes, scorpions, spiders, and fleas in Apple ren-
dition of arcade classic. Atarisoft, 1265 Borregas
Ave., Box 427, Sunnyvale, CA 94086. $34.95. 4/84.
• Choplifter. Gorlin. Fly your chopper to rescue 64
hostages, avoiding interceptor jets, homing mines,
and tanks. Challenging, realistic, and playful. Stun-
ning graphics. Broderbund, 17 Paul Dr., San Rafael,
CA 94903. $34.95 . 7/82.
• Crossfire. Sullivan. Critters come at you from four
directions on a grid laid out like city blocks. Strategy
and intense concentration required. Superb, smooth
animation of a dozen pieces simultaneously. One of
the great ones. Sierra On-Line, Sierra On-Line Build-
ing, Coarsegold, CA 93614. $29.95. 7/82.
Defender. Fly and shoot, fly and shoot, and don't
forget to save the planet. Atarisoft, 1265 Borregas
Ave., Box 427, Sunnyvale, CA 94086. $34.95. 3/84.
Dig Dug. Dig Dug moves horizontally and vertically,
burrowing tunnels in search of vegetables. Hidden
monsters make his task tougher. Atarisoft, 1265 Bor-
regas Ave., Box 427, Sunnyvale, CA 94086. $34.95.
Dr J and Larry Bird Go One-on-One. Hammond,
Bird, Erving. Graphically and intrinsically captures
the moves, grace, and bearing of basketball forwards
Dr J and Larry Bird as they play one on one. The best
video basketball imaginable, for one or two players.
Electronic Arts, 2755 Campus Dr., San Mateo, CA
94403. $40. 2/84.
Donkey Kong. Mario the carpenter climbs girders
and rides elevators to reach the top of a building
where a giant gorilla holds his sweetheart captive. Try
to keep him from falling or getting bumped off.
Atarisoft, 1265 Borregas Ave., Box 427, Sunnyvale,
CA 94086. $34.95.
Drol. Ngo. Charming rescue mission set in a dream
world with witch doctors, Garfield-like scorpions,
kamikaze vacuum cleaners. Marvelous, smoothly
animated graphics; challenging and playable. Bro-
derbund, 17 Paul Dr., San Rafael, CA 94903.
$34.95. 12/83.
Frogger. Lubeck. Not even close. Sierra On-Line,
Sierra On-Line Building, Coarsegold, CA 93614.
$34.95. 12/82.
• Gorgon. Nasir. Fly over planet shooting and dodg-
ing invaders and saving kidnapped inhabitants. Out-
standing hi-res graphics, challenging refueling se-
quence. Sirius, 10364 Rockingham Dr., Sacramento,
CA 95827. $39.95. 8/81.
Hard Hat Mack. Abbot, Alexander. Poor Mack. He
must avoid vandals, inspectors, falling rivets, and
hungry cement mixers to complete his building. Elec-
tronic Arts, 2755 Campus Dr., San Mateo, CA
94403. $35. 7/83.
s The Heist. Livesay, Mooney. Similar to Live-
say's Apple version of Miner 2049er; pick up all of
the artwork in sixteen-level museum. Passive — no one
is chasing you— but challenging. Micro Lab, 2699
WHTAIK
Skokie Valley Rd., Highland Park, IL 60035. $35.
• Lode Runner. Smith. One hundred fifty unique
levels in super run-climb-dig-jump game — or design
your own puzzles, scenes, and setups— in quest to
retrieve stolen gold from the Bungeling Empire.
Voted Most Popular Program of 1983. Broderbund,
17 Paul Dr., San Rafael, CA 94903. $34.95. 8/83.
• Meteoroids (Asteroids) in Space. Wallace. Make
little asteroids out of big ones, plus occasional hostile
alien ships. Hyperspace, autobrake, autofire. Quality
Software, 21601 Manila St., Chatsworth, CA 91311.
$19.95.
• Microsoft Decathlon (formerly Olympic
Decathlon). Smith. Ten standard decathlon events.
Hi-res animated athletes, muscle-stirring music; you
provide the sweat. Microsoft, 10700 Northup Wy.,
Bellevue, WA 98004. $29.95. 6/81.
Miner 2049er. Livesay, Hogue. Run, jump, climb,
and slide through the mines, reinforcing the ground-
work along the way. Elevators, cannons, chutes, and
ladders help; mutants don't. Hot stuff, best of the
genre. Micro Lab, 2699 Skokie Valley Rd., Highland
Park, IL 60035. $39.95. 1/83.
Pac-Man. Official, original eat-'em-up arcade giant
now available for the Apple II. Atari, Box 2943, S.
San Francisco, CA 94080. $34.95.
Pinball Construction Set. Budge. Design and play
your own computer games on-screen, with zero pro-
gramming. A miracle of rare device. Superior.
BudgeCo, 428 Pala Ave., Piedmont, CA 94611.
$39.95. 2/83.
• Pool 1.5. Hoffman, St. Germain, Morock. Makes
most shots you could on a real pool table, with the ad-
vantages of instant replay and slow motion. Four dif-
ferent games. IDSI, Box 1658, Las Cruces, NM
88004. $34.95. 6/81.
• Raster Blaster. Budge. First realistic pinball
game. Softalk readers' Most Popular Program of
1981. BudgeCo, 428 Pala Ave., Piedmont, CA
94611. $29.95. 5/81.
Robotron: 2084. The world's turned bad 100 years
later than expected. Save the last of the race from ma-
rauding robot monsters. Atarisoft, 1265 Borregas
Ave., Box 427, Sunnyvale, CA 94086. $34.95.
Sammy Light foot. Schwader. Sammy must dodge a
variety of obstacles as he tries out for the circus. He
evidently used to be a miner. Sierra On-Line, Sierra
On-Line Building, Coarsegold, CA 93614. $29.95.
Spare Change. Zeller, Zeller. Bright graphics,
ultrasmooth animation, clever sound effects, and cute
characters add up to create an instant classic — the first
computer slapstick comedy. Broderbund, 17 Paul
Dr., San Rafael, CA 94903. $34.95. 11/83.
Spy's Demise. Zeldin, Hardy. Be the first on your
block to run a maze of pile-driving elevators. Fast,
frustrating fun. Complete puzzle after all nine levels.
Penguin, Box 31 1, Geneva, IL 60134. $29.95. 11/82.
The Spy Strikes Back. Hardy, Pelczarski. Follow-up
to Spy's Demise proves that sequels are sometimes
better. This one's a sneak-and-hide game, technically
impressive, challenging, and lots of fun. Penguin,
Box 311, Geneva, IL 60134. $29.95. 10/83.
Stargate. Crisper, smoother, faster version of De-
fender. The radar is poor, but the action more than
compensates. Atarisoft, 1265 Borregas Ave., Box
427, Sunnyvale, CA 94086. $34.95. 3/84.
Stellar 7. Slye. It's you against the Arcturan world in
excellent 3-D animated arcader. Seven levels, 14
types of enemies to blast in quest of the alien armada.
Software Entertainment, 537 Willamette St., Eugene,
OR 97401. $34.95. 9/83.
• Super Invader. Hata. Progenitor of home arcades.
Still good hi-res, still a challenge. Softalk readers'
Most Popular Program of 1978-80. Astar Internation-
al, through Creative Computing, 39 E. Hanover
Ave., Morris Plains, NJ 07960. $19.95.
Zaxxon. Garcia. 3-D scrolling air raid brought to the
Apple with little sacrifice in playability. Datasoft,
9421 Winnetka Ave., Chatsworth, CA 91311.
$39.95 . 9/83.
MAY 1984
Home Education
Apple Logo. Papert. Custom version (by its inventor)
of turtle graphics language. First-rate educational
tool. Great kid-friendly documentation. Apple, 20525
Mariani Ave., Cupertino, CA 95014. $175.
Apple 11-6502 Assembly Language Tutor. Haskell.
This book/disk combination explains the 6502 micro-
processor, low-level programming, binary and hexa-
decimal arithmetic; exposes beginners to writing ma-
chine language without an assembler, hardware de-
velopment, and more. A superb teacher for adven-
turous spirits. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ
06732. $34.95. 3/84.
Arcademic Skill Builders in Math. Chafin, Max-
well. Alien Addition, Alligator Mix, Demolition Divi-
sion, Dragon Mix, Meteor Multiplication, and Minus
Mission. Arcade action blended with addition, sub-
traction, multiplication, and division problems.
Shooting correct answers to problems gets rid of
pesky attackers. Choose speed, difficulty levels,
game length. Developmental Learning Materials, 1
DLM Park, Allen, TX 75002. $29.95 each. 7/83.
Barron's SAT. Pinpoints students' strengths and
weaknesses, outlines study program. Four complete
SATs in two modes. Question mode explains an-
swers, suggests strategies, gives hints. Test mode
scores answers, gives scaled SAT score. Barron's,
113 Crossways Pk. Dr., Woodbury, NY 11797.
Three disks, guides, $89.95.
Compu-Read. EduWare. Set of programs develops
speed and retention in reading. Stresses character and
word recognition, comprehension. Peachtree Soft-
ware, 3445 Peachtree Rd., N.E., #830, Atlanta, GA
30326. $29.95.
Computer SAT. Prepares college-bound students for
admittance test. Diagnoses strengths, weaknesses;
creates study plan, exercises. Harcourt Brace
Jovanovich, 1250 6th Ave., San Diego, CA 92101.
$79.95.
Computer Training Tapes. Robinson. Three audio-
cassette tapes and disk teach computer literacy. Ex-
amines hardware, DOS and DOS Sample Programs
disk, and introductory programming. Beneficial even
to experienced users. Personal Tutor Associates, Box
246, Clinton, MD 20735. $49.95. 3/84.
Counting Bee. Conrad. Introduces young children to
counting, addition, subtraction, shape discrimination,
weight, and measurement. Ages four to eight. Peach-
tree Software, 3445 Peachtree Rd., N.E., #830,
Atlanta, GA 30326. $29.95.
Delta Drawing. Kids can make colorful drawings by
using single-key commands. No special talent needed;
this one develops programs that create complex
graphics. Spinnaker, 215 1st St., Cambridge, MA
02142. $59.95. 11/82.
Early Games for Young Children. Paulson. Basic
training in numbers, letters, Apple keyboard for chil-
dren ages two to seven with no adult supervision. Has
a neat little drawing program. Counterpoint Software,
4005 W. 65th St., Minneapolis, MN 55435. $29.95.
11/82.
Early Games Fraction Factory. Eyestone. Aided by
colorful graphics and music, children see and describe
fractions, find equal values with different denomina-
tors, multiply whole numbers by fractions, add and
subtract fractions. Ages 8 to 12. Counterpoint Soft-
ware, 4005 W. 65th St., Minneapolis, MN 55435.
$29.95.
Early Games Matchmaker. Adolf, Boody. Helps
children aged two to six develop matching, grouping,
and discrimination skills. Requires no knowledge of
keyboard; does require adult supervision. Counter-
point Software, 4005 W. 65th St., Minneapolis, MN
55435. $29.95. 2/84.
Early Games Music. Paulson. Dlustrates music with
fun and theory. Children compose music and set to
graphics or learn note reading and piano keyboard.
It's never too early tobegin
If you have children ages four
to eight, give them a head start on
the computer age with programs
from ERIC Software Publishing.
ERIC makes it fun to learn. In
"The Learning Line," a curious
monkey helps your child learn to
recognize letters, numbers and
objects, and to associate words
with pictures. Your youngster
operates a crane in "The Grabit
Factory" to pick up number
blocks that complete a simple ad-
dition or subtraction problem.
Any child will have a delightful
time learning to count in "The
Sweet Shoppe." These programs
are just the beginning of a com-
plete library of fun, challenging
games from ERIC Software
Publishing.
ERIC makes it easy to learn. Once the program
is loaded, your child only needs to use a
joy stick or paddle and one key to operate any
ERIC game. After just a few minutes of
instruction, your child can take total charge of
the computer.
ERIC makes learning positive. ERIC programs
reward success, but if your child makes an
error, there are no negative sounds or
images to discourage your youngster
from trying again.
ERIC is
unconditionally
guaranteed. Even a
diskette clogged with
peanut butter and jelly
will be cheerfully
replaced.
In our fast-paced world of technological
change, it's important that a child's learning
processes begin at an early age. With programs
from ERIC Software Publishing, your
youngsters can start now. It's never too early to
begin.
Visit your local computer store for a demon-
stration. For the name of a store near you or for
an ERIC brochure, call or write us.
ERIC programs are available for
Apple II + , Apple He, Franklin,
and Commodore 64 computers.*
'Apple II + and Apple He, Franklin, and Commodore 64 are
registered trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc., Franklin
Computer and Commodore Computer respectively.
ERIC Software Publishing
1713 Tulare
Fresno, CA 93721
(209) 237-0989
© 1984 ERIC Software Publishing
MAILORDER PRICES!
A NEW KIND OF COMPUTER STORE - WE DISCOUNT EVERYTHING !
ALGEBRA I. II, III, IV EACH 29.95
ASCII EXPRESS PRO 99.95
ALSCP/M CARD W/64K MEM 299.95
AMDEK 300 AMBER 149.95
AMDEK COLOR I 299.95
BANK STREET WRITER 46.95
BEAGLE APPLE MECH 19.95
BEAGLE BAG 19.95
BEAGLE BASIC 24.95
BEAGLE DOS BOSS 17.95
BEAGLE DOUBLE TAKE 24.95
BEAGLE FLEX TEXT 19.95
BEAGLE PRONTO DOS 19.95
BEAGLE TIP DISK #1 14.95
BEAGLE TYPEFACES 14.95
BEAGLE UTILITY CITY 19.95
BROTHER(DYNAX) DX15 449.95
CHOPLIFTER 25.95
COPY II+ 29.95
DANA SUPER FAN 44.95
SURGE SUPPRESSOR,
2 GR. OUTLETS, LIGHTED FRONT
SWITCH (SAME AS SYS SAVER*)
D BASE II 399.95
DB MASTER IV NEW 269.95
DB UTILITY PAK 89.95
DEADLINE 33.95
DISKNOTCHER 14.95
DOLLARS & CENTS 79.95
DR. J AND THE BIRD
GO ONE-ON-ONE 34.95
EPSON FX 80 489.95
EPSON FX 100 699.95
FINGER PRINT (EPSON) 49.95
FIRST CLASS MAIL 69.95
FLIGHT SIMULATOR II 39.95
FLIP 'N FILE 7.95
FONTPAK 1,2,3 16.95
FONTRIX 59.95
FORMAT II ENHANCED 109.95
GEMINI 10X 120 CPS 269.95
GRAPPLER+ INTERFACE 115.95
GRAPPLER + W/16K ON-BOARD
BUFFER (TO 64K) 169.95
★ HAYDEN SOFTWARE ★
HOW TO PROGRAM APPLESOFT
BASIC 39.95
HOME ACCOUNTANT
HOME WORD
INSTANT RECALL
KIDS AND APPLES
KNOW YOUR APPLE lie
49.95
39. M
4£?5
*4.95
21 .95
KOALA PADS
79.95
LETTER PERFECT 99.95
MAGIC CALC 99.95
MAGIC WINDOW II 99.95
MAXELL/VERBATIM (SSDD) 24.95
MICRO SCI XL DRIVE 169.95
MICROSOFT SOFTCARD 239.95
MICROSOFT //e SOFTCARD CP/M
80C0L&64K(1 CARD) 299.95
MILLIONAIRE 49.95
MINER 2049ER 29.95
MOCKING BOARD 79.95
* NEW FROM HAYES *
MICROMODEM //e
$249.95
SUPPORTS II+, //e, APPLE III
INCLUDES
SMARTCOM I SOFTWARE AND
FREE SOURCE SUBSCRIPTION
Hayes Smartmodem
1200 BDRS232 $499.95
Rana Systems
Elite One 239.95
Elite Two 379.95
Elite Three 479.95
Rana Controller 75.00
ff GARDEN OF EDEN~^
COMPUTERS
16485 Magnolia
Westminster, CA 92683
Va blk. N. of the 405 Frwy.
Mon-Fri 10-6:30 Sat 10-5
CLOSED SUNDAYS 4 TUESDAYS
•"•ORDERS ONLY""
800-762-3227
OUTSIDE CALIFORNIA ONLY
714-841-4994
INSIDE CALIFORNIA
1
* NEW *
ABATI
(BY DANA)
LQ 20
Letter Quality Printer
18 CPS
QUME DAISY WHEEL &
RIBBON CARTRIDGE COMPATIBLE
1 YR. WARRANTY
MOST AFFORDABLE PRICE
$429.95
MULTIPLAN MACINTOSH 159.95
MULTIPLAN DOS orCP/M 149.95
MUSIC CONST SET 34.95
NEC 12 GREEN 119.95
NEC 8023 PRINTER 379.95
NOVATION APPLE CAT II 249.95
NOVATION EXP MODULE 36.95
NOVATION HAND SET 26.95
NOVATION TOUCHTONE 85.95
OKI DATA 92 P 439.95
OKIDATA 93P 729.95
PADDLE ADAPPLE 26.95
PFS FILE //e or II+ 79.95
PFS GRAPH //e or II+ 79.95
PFS WRITE //e 79.95
PFS REPORT l/e or II+ 79.95
PIE WRITER 109.95
PINBALL CONST SET 34.95
PROMETHEUS PRO MODEM
1200 BD 369.95
PROMETHEUS VERSA CARD 1 49.95
PROWRITER 8510 349.95
RANA ELITE I 239.95
RANA ELITE II 379.95
RANA ELITE III 479.95
SARGON III 39.95
SATURN SYSTEM 128K 379.95
SENSIBLE SPELLER 79.95
SPELLING BEE GAMES 29.95
SUPERTEXT PRO 119.95
SYSTEM SAVER FAN 64.95
TAXAN 12 COLOR RGB 299.95
T.G. JOYSTICK 42.95
T.G. SELECT-A-PORT 42.95
"THE WORD" BIBLE
PROCESSOR 139.95
THUNDERCLOCK PLUS 119.95
TYPING TUTOR 19.95
ULTIMA III 39.95
USI 12 HI RES AMBER 139.95
VIDEX 80 COL CARD 1 89.95
w/SOFTSWITCH & INVERSE CHIP
VIDEX ENHANCER (7) 109.95
VIDEX FUNCTION STRIP 39.95
VISICALC lie 1 28K 239.95
WIZARD IPI PARALLEL
INTERFACE 62.50
WIZARDRY 36.95
WORDSTAR or INFOSTAR
w/FREE CP/M CARD 329.95
LIST HANDLER, WORD HANDLER
AND SPELL HANDLER
ALL 3 PIECES ★ 99.95 ★
ZAXXON 29.95
ZENITH 12 GREEN 99.95
ZORK I, II, III EACH 26.95
BECAUSE HARDWARE ANDSOFTWARE
PRICES ARE CHANGING SO RAPIDLY,
WE URGE YOU TO CALL US FOR OUR
VERY LOWEST CURRENT PRICES !
WE APPRECIATE YOUR BUSINESS and will do
everything we can to make you happy
TERMS: F O B Westminster. CA We accept VISA,
Mastercard. Cash, Checks. Certified Checks are
better. Money Orders and Purchase Orders (2% 1 0-
Net 1 5). Add 2% tor bank cards & P.O's. Ask about
our return policy Prices are subject to change and
hopefully will go down1 Unless otherwise noted, all
prices are Apple.
Apple is a registered trademark of Apple Computer,
EPSON is a registered trademark of EPSON America.
MAY 1984
193
Counterpoint Software, 4005 W. 65th St., Min-
neapolis, MN 55435. $29.95. 8/83.
Early Gaines Piece of Cake. Eyestone. Kids become
baker's assistants; adding, multiplying, subtracting,
dividing cakes. Includes CatchaCake, a problem-
solving race against time to stop a cake from falling.
Counterpoint Software, 4005 W. 65th St., Min-
neapolis, MN 55435. $29.95. 10/83.
Facemaker. DesignWare. Exercises kids' creativity
and introduces programlike command sequencing as
kids create faces and link them together in animated
patterns. Spinnaker, 215 1st St., Cambridge, MA
02142. $34.95.
Fractions. EduWare. Hi-res addition, subtraction,
multiplication, and division of fractions. With learn-
ing manager system. Peachtree Software, 3445
Peachtree Rd., N.E., #830, Atlanta, GA 30326. $49.
• French Hangman, Latin Hangman, Spanish
Hangman. Protelsch, Earl. Hangman games that tell
you the answer— in a foreign language. Interesting
sentences, many formats. Addicting! George Earl,
1302 S. General McMullen, San Antonio, TX 78237.
Two-sided disk, $29.95. 9/83.
Game Show. Guess mystery words from clues given
by "celebrity" partners— no threat to Liz Montgom-
ery. Fifteen subjects cover vocabulary, history,
algebra, and more. Add topics. Advanced Ideas,
1442A Walnut St., #341, Berkeley, CA 94709. $39.
• Gertrude's Secrets. Gertrude the Goose teaches
four- to nine-year-olds shape and color relationships.
Solve logic puzzles, create forms. The Learning Co.,
545 Middlefield Rd., #170, Menlo Park, CA 94025.
$44.95. 2/83.
Hey Diddle Diddle. Disharoon. Three reading and
vocabulary games that strengthen reasoning ability.
Ages 3 to 10. Spinnaker, 215 1st St., Cambridge, MA
02142. $29.95.
In Search of the Most Amazing Thing. Snyder.
Role-playing game lets kids negotiate with aliens, fly
hot-air balloon. Ages 10 to adult. Spinnaker, 215 1st
St., Cambridge, MA 02142. $44.95 . 7/83.
Kindercomp. Learning exercises for ages three
through eight. Spinnaker, 215 1st St., Cambridge,
MA 02142. $29.95.
Krell Logo. Concentrates on underlying principles of
Logo; sections on assembly language interfaces and
music creation, plus Alice in Logoland tutorial. Krell,
1320 Stony Brook Rd., Stony Brook, NY 11790.
$89.95. 7/82.
✓ Learning and Loving It! Division of Whole
Numbers. Boms. Makes learning long division as
palatable as possible. Race Apple Annie to the re-
mainder in entertaining beginning level. Intermediate
and advanced levels soberly studious. Borns Soft-
ware, 19841 Sea Canyon Circle, Huntington Beach,
CA 92648. $39.95. 4/84.
The Learning Line. Helps children four through sev-
en understand relationships between letters, words,
numbers, pictures. Uses only joystick and escape key,
teaches without negative feedback. Eric Software,
1713 Tulare, Fresno, CA 93721. $39.95. 3/84.
• MasterType. Zweig. Learn to type by playing a
game; simple and ingenious. He version teaches new
keyboard. Lightning, Box 11725, Palo Alto, CA
94306. $39.95. 4/81.
Math Blaster. Davidson, Eckert. Elementary-school-
level training in four basic math functions. Options to
create lessons; several levels of difficulty for various
ages. Human cannonball arcade game for each func-
tion. Davidson & Associates, 6069 Groveoak PI.,
#12, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA 90274. $49.95.
Micro-LADS. Six-disk package for the learning- and
hearing-disabled. Animated characters teach rules of
grammar. Variable levels, color. Requires Echo II
speech synthesizer. Laureate Learning Systems, 1
Mill St. , Burlington, VT 05401 . Six disks and Echo H
speech synthesizer, $650. Individual disks, $170 each.
Mix and Match. CTW. Create mixed-up Muppets
and teach the Apple about animals. Logic and word-
guessing games. Add your own word lists. Apple,
20525 Mariani Ave. , Cupertino, CA 95014. $50. 2/83.
• The New Step by Step, Step by Step Two. The
New Step by Step teaches beginning programming.
Step by Step Two teaches intermediate Basic program-
ming, peek and poke, hexadecimal numbers, con-
catenations, and more. Program Design, 11 Idar Ct.,
Greenwich, CT 06830. $89.95 . 7/83.
PSAT Word Attack Skills. Priven. Teaches vocabu-
lary and techniques for deciphering unfamiliar words
in pressurized testing situation. Peachtree Software,
3445 Peachtree Rd., N.E., #830, Atlanta, GA
30326. $49.
Report Card. Ringuette. Grading system allows
teacher to weight the importance of activities. Main-
tains any number of classes, makes grade changes
easily, displays student percentages, prints grade
reports. Sensible Software, 6619 Perham Dr., West
Bloomfield, MI 48033. $59.95.
Rhymes and Riddles. Cross. Four games to teach
reading and spelling to elementary schoolchildren.
Fill in the blanks with the necessary phrase. Spin-
naker, 215 1st St., Cambridge, MA 02142. $29.95.
Rocky's Boots. Robinett, Grimm. Rascally raccoon
helps children build logical thinking and computer
understanding. Construct machines of logical gates in
convolutions of thickening complexity. Music and
sound effects add to fun. The Learning Co., 545
Middlefield Rd., #170, Menlo Park, CA 94025.
$49.95. 2/83.
Snooper Troops. Snyder. Ongoing hi-res mystery se-
ries in form of educational games. Highly structured;
excellent fourth-through-eighth-grade educational
tool. Fun for adults too. Spinnaker, 215 1st St., Cam-
bridge, MA 02142. $44.95 each. 9/82.
Spelling Bee Games. EduWare. Hi-res games
strengthen eye-hand coordination, memory, motor
skills. Word lists include shapes, animals, more.
Peachtree Software, 3445 Peachtree Rd., N.E., #830,
keywlz
who brought you
The first user definable keyboard. 248 function keys
you define and redefine anytime, for the Apple II+,
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Preprogrammed with 30 function keys and numeric keypad,
for the Apple II+, lie, Franklin Ace 1000, 1200
®
CONVERTIBLE
4 separate function keyboards
Acecalc, Acewriter, Wordstar, Format II,
for the Franklin Ace 1000 and 1200.
Now Introduces
the Kej^r @
NUMERIC KEYPAD
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• Complete numerics • Works with any software
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• Escape/space/brackets # Reasonably priced
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• Installs easily —
plugs right in!
Dealers:
ATTRACTIVE DISCOUNT
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late
Creative Computer Peripherals Inc
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See your Dealer or Call
Information: 609-693-0002
Orders: 800-225-0091
194
SOCTAI I
MAY 1984
THIS
READS
VIDEO -DIGITIZER
oh yes . . .
it does pictures, too!
$"7-49.95 plus $5.DO shipping.
Mo. residents add sales tax.
SEE YOUR DEALER OR CALL
CENTRAL VALLEY
ELECTRONICS, INC.
PO. Box 33102 KC. Mo 64114 (816)444-5215
Designers and Developers of the
"Vicares System," a high speed
data capture system.
Atlanta, GA 30326. $29.95. 5/83.
Stickybear. Hefter, Worthington, Rice, Howe.
Animated early education programs. In Stickybear
ABC, moving pictures with sound represent letters. In
Stickybear Numbers, groups of moving objects teach
numbers and simple arithmetic. Ages three through
six. In Stickybear Bop, ducks, planets, and balloons
bop across screen in three shooting galleries. For all
ages. In Stickybear Shapes, animated pictures teach
shape recognition. In Stickybear Opposites, Sticky-
bear and friends illustrate opposites. Weekly Reader
Family Software, 245 Long Hill Rd., Middletown,
CT 06457. $39.95 each. Numbers, ABC, Bop, 5/83.
Shapes, 12/83. Opposites, 3/84.
Story Machine. Helps develop positive attitude to-
ward writing and ability to write correctly. Words
come to life when sentence is acted out on-screen.
Kids five to nine love to type "The Bumpus zots the
tree" and see it do so. Spinnaker, 215 1st St., Cam-
bridge, MA 02142. $34.95.
is Super map. Maps show ecological regions, geo-
graphical features, time zones. Shows cities and tells
population, latitude, longitude, principal post office
zip code and area codes. For kids 10 to 15. Softsmith,
1431 Doolittle Dr., San Leandro, CA 94577. $39.95.
Sweet Shoppe. Boxes, Daus, Murrays. Mr. Jelly-
bean and three instructive arcade games teach kids
four to seven counting, subtraction, and addition of
numbers 1 through 10. Colorful graphics, simple
plot. Eric Software, 1713 Tulare, Fresno, CA 93721.
$39.95. 3/84.
Terrapin Logo. MIT. The Logo language, using a
Terrapin turtle to teach state, control, and recursion.
Terrapin, 380C Green St., Cambridge, MA 02139.
$149.95.
Tic Tac Show. Teaches facts and concepts about the
world in general. Solo or double play; add topics. Ad-
vanced Ideas, 1442A Walnut St., Berkeley, CA
94709. $39.95.
Type Attack. Hauser. Learn to type while defending
the planet Lexicon from invaders. Ue version teaches
Ue keyboard. Sirius, 10364 Rockingham Dr., Sacra-
mento, CA 95827. $39.95.
Typing Tutor. Ainsworth, Baker. Four levels of pro-
ficiency; individualized drills created with time-
response monitoring. Microsoft, 10700 Northup
Wy., Bellevue, WA 98004. $24.95.
Strategy
Thinking, planning, plotting games, from war games to
backgammon to cards.
Carrier Force. Grigsby. Four World War II naval
scenarios. Realistic reenactment of gut-wrenching
battles. For one or two players. Strategic Simula-
tions, 883 Stierlin Rd., A-200, Mountain View, CA
94043. $59.95.
• Castle Wolfenstein. Warner. First game to fuse
successfully strategy, home-arcade, fantasy. Escape
from Nazi stronghold with secret plans. Room layout
changes with each new game. Enemy speaks (in Ger-
man). Muse, 347 N. Charles St., Baltimore, MD
21201. $29.95. 10/81.
• Computer Ambush. Williger. Gutty soldier-to-
soldier street fighting in World War U France. Latest
version is 40 times faster than the original, which was
one of the best games ever created for Apple, except
for slowness. Strategic Simulations, 883 Stierlin Rd.,
A-200, Mountain View, CA 94043. $59.95.
• Computer Baseball. Merrow, Avery. Simulates
individual player abilities from the teams of 13
famous World Series. Enter and play teams of your
own creation. Strategic Simulations, 883 Stierlin Rd.,
A-200, Mountain View, CA 94043. $39.95. 9/81.
• Flight Simulator. Artwick. Uses aerodynamic
equations, airfoil characteristics for realistic take-
off, flight, and landing. Two years on Top Thirty.
SubLogic, 713 Edgebrook Dr., Champaign, IL
61820. $33.50.
Flight Simulator U. Artwick. Update of the original
Flight Simulator features animated 3-D color
graphics, transcontinental flight, World War I aerial
battle. SubLogic, 713 Edgebrook Dr., Champaign,
IL 61820. $49.95.
Geopolitique 1990. Ketchledge, Billings. Diplo-
matic, economic, and military simulation that pits the
United States against the Soviet Union in a struggle
for world supremacy. Features two phases: global
diplomacy and geowar, a simulation of nonnuclear
combat. For one player. Strategic Simulations, 883
Stierlin Rd., A-200, Mountain View, CA 94043.
$39.95. 10/83.
Gin Rummy. Carpet. Play against computer. Hi-res
hand can be arranged. Knocking allowed. Computer
plays pretty well. Datamost, 8943 Fullbright Ave.,
Chatsworth, CA 91311. $29.95. 6/82.
Hi-Res Computer Golf 2. A masterpiece; requires
judgment, strategy, and visual acuity. One of the few
computer sports simulations that require dexterity.
Avant-Garde, Box 30160, Eugene, OR 97403.
$34.95. 6/83.
• Microgammon II. Program for play, practice, im-
provement of backgammon skills. Pretty good com-
petition. Softape, 5547 Satsuma Ave., North
Hollywood, CA 91601. $19.95. 2/81.
Millionaire. Zuber. Investment simulation lets you
know if you have what it takes to make a quick million
in the stock market. Every little market fluctuation
represented on a weekly basis, includes investment
tips. Blue Chip Software, 6744 Eton Ave., Canoga
Park, CA 91303. $59.95. 12/83.
• Pensate. Besnard. Chess-type thinking game with
new tactics. Computer's many pieces move in relation
to player's piece; each of 10 types of computer pieces
has unique rules. Makes full use of computer
capabilities. Intriguing, progressive, and addictive.
Penguin, Box 311, Geneva, IL 60134. $29.95. 7/83.
v* Professional Tour Golf. Richbourg. Determine
the average distance of your drive and the precision of
your putts and then stride the links with Palmer and
Nicklaus or a friend or three. Two courses, lots of
hazards. Strategic Simulations, 883 Stierlin Rd., A-
200, Mountain View, CA 94043. $39.95. 4/84.
S Rails West! Thar's fortunes can be made in rail-
roads, sonny. It's 1870; start a corporation or orches-
trate a takeover. Choose level of play, number of
players— up to eight— and scenario, ranging from
boom times to panic. Strategic Simulations, 883 Stier-
lin Rd., A-200, Mountain View, CA 94043. $39.95.
• RobotWar. Warner. Strategy game with battling
robots is great teaching device for programming.
Muse, 347 N. Charles St., Baltimore, MD 21201.
$39.95. 1/81.
• Sargon III. Spracklen, Spracklen. Plays good
chess fast. Much improved from Sargon II, contains
107 classic games from the past for instruction or
entertainment. Hayden, 600 Suffolk St., Lowell, MA
01853. $49.95. 10/83.
Utility
Apple Mechanic. Kersey. Multiple disk utility with
shape editor, custom typefonts, byte rewriter, and
tricks to facilitate music, text, and hi-res generation.
Beagle Bros, 4315 Sierra Vista, San Diego, CA
92103. $29.50. 9/82.
Apple Mechanic Typefaces. Twenty-six new
fonts for use with Apple Mechanic. Beagle Bros, 4315
Sierra Vista, San Diego, CA 92103. $20.
Beagle Basic. Simonsen. Allows you to enhance and
customize Applesoft by adding up to 12 functions.
Beagle Bros, 4315 Sierra Vista, San Diego, CA
92103. $34.95. 10/83.
Copy II Plus. All you need to back up disks,
manipulate files, and test your disk system. Includes
bit copy program, documentation. Central Point Soft-
ware, Box 19730-1^03, Portland, OR 97219. $39.95.
DiskQuik. Bruce, Hite. Uses an extended 80-column
'A LIVING TAPESTRY . . .
" Ure world of Ultima III can only be compared to a living tapestry — complex
^and beautiful . . . This is the best fantasy game in computing. Indeed, it is one
of the best fantasy worlds in which to live. Lord British is a veritable JRR Tolkien
of the keyboard. " — Popular Mechanics
' '(^fodus: Ultima III, with a superior plot to match its superior gaming system, is
a great game. It upgrades the market; in several ways it sets new standards for
fantasy gaming state of the art. " — Softline
' '(Qxodus: Ultima III is Lord British's magnum opus — so far. It's fun and exciting
to play and constantly intriguing. And the ending is marvelously unexpected
and not a -bit disappointing — except that it is the ending, and as with a good book,
you'll probably wish there were more." — Softalk
Available on: Apple, Atari, Com64, IBM
m
sYsrens /nc. 1545 Osgood st
NORTH ANDOVER, MA 01845
(617) 681-0609
Apple, Atari. Com64, and IBM arc trademarks of Apple Inc., Atari Inc.. Commodore Business Machines, and IBM, respccli\ely.
Ultima and l ord British arc trademarks of Richard Ciarriotl. C opyright 1984 by Origin Systems, Inc.
MAY 1984
196
card to make the Apple lie think a disk drive is con-
nected to slot three. Eighty -column card holds about
half as much data as a disk. Beagle Bros, 4315 Sierra
Vista, San Diego, CA 92103. $29.50.
Diversi-DOS. Basham. Well-documented, copyable
program speeds up disk access, buffers keyboard in-
put. Can be placed on RAM card; sets up RAM card
as print buffer. DSR, 5848 Crampton Ct., Rockford,
IL 61111. $30. 5/83.
DOS Boss. Kersey, Cassidy. Utility to change DOS
commands, customize catalog. Good ideas and witty
presentation. Beagle Bros, 4315 Sierra Vista, San
Diego, CA 92103. $24. 10/81.
DOS 3.3. Increases disk storage capacity more than
20 percent over 3.2. Apple Computer, 20525 Mariani
Ave., Cupertino, CA 95014. $60.
Double-Take. Simonsen. Multiple utility features
two-way scrolling for listings and catalogs. Improved
list format. Beagle Bros, 4315 Sierra Vista, San
Diego, CA 92103. $34.95. 10/83.
Einstein Compiler. Goodrow, Einstein. Translates
Applesoft programs into machine language for run-
time up to 20 times faster. Supports all graphics
modes, defined functions, and DOS commands. Ein-
stein, 11340 W. Olympic Blvd., Los Angeles, CA
90064. $129. 5/83.
Flex Type. Simonsen. Adds graphics to text and vice
versa; prints variable-width text with no hardware.
Beagle Bros, 4315 Sierra Vista, San Diego, CA
92103. $29.50.
Frame-Up. Weishaar. High-speed display utility
generates professional presentations of graphics, text
frames. Text screen editor lets you create text slides,
add type live during shows. Optional preprogrammed
display for unattended shows. Beagle Bros, 4315
Sierra Vista, San Diego, CA 92103. $29.50.
• Global Program Line Editor. Enhanced version
of Program Line Editor with programmable cursor
and listing control. Edit line by line or by range of
lines and search for strings. Beagle Bros, 4315 Sierra
Vista, San Diego, CA 92103. $49.95. 12/82.
is Master Diagnostic II, II Plus, and lie. Romano.
Identifies bad ROM and RAM chips, parallel cards,
video monitor, speaker, paddles, disk drive speed,
head alignment, and write-protect switch. Gives hard-
ware repair, replacement, and cleaning instructions
where viable. Nikrom Technical Products, 25 Pros-
pect St., Leominster, MA 01453. $55.
Merlin. Does assembly language programming with
a dozen editing commands and 28 pseudo-ops. Roger
Wagner Publishing, 10761-E Woodside Ave., Santee,
CA 92071. $64.95. 1/83.
SHU] I
ProntoDOS. Weishaar. High-speed disk utility cuts
about two-thirds of the time off bload and save func-
tions. Compatible with all DOS commands; frees up
to 15 extra sectors per disk. Beagle Bros, 4315 Sierra
Vista, San Diego, CA 92103. $29.50.
Silicon Salad. Kersey, Simonsen. Grab bag of
utilities including Applesoft error trapper, fast word
alphabetizer, and a disk scanner that seals off bad sec-
tors. Features Tip Disk #2 and Beagle Blackjack.
Beagle Bros, 4315 Sierra Vista, San Diego, CA
92103. $24.95. 4/84.
• Super Disk Copy III. Hartley. Easy-to-use menu-
driven software utility; correct file sizes, undelete,
free DOS tracks, more. Sensible, 6619 Perham Dr.,
W. Bloomfield, MI 48003. $30. 10/81.
Tip Disk #1. Kersey. One hundred Beagle Tip Book
programs on disk. Includes Apple command chart and
peeks/pokes chart. Beagle Bros, 4315 Sierra Vista,
San Diego, CA 92103. $20.
Utility City. Kersey. Twenty-one utilities on one
disk. Beagle Bros, 4315 Sierra Vista, San Diego, CA
92103. $29.50.
X PS-Diagnostic. Peters. Comprehensive hardware
diagnostic utility by author of Apple Cillin includes
graphic display of bad memory chips, tests for
printers, RAM, ROM, and peripheral cards. XPS,
323 York Rd., Carlisle, PA 17013. $49.95. 4/84.
Word Processing
Apple Writer II and lie. Includes WPL (word proc-
essing language). Additional functions menu; conti-
nuing features and functions menu; continuous read-
out of characters and length. He has shift, shift-lock,
and tab, four-arrow cursor control, and delete key;
data files compatible with //. Apple, 20525 Mariani
Ave., Cupertino, CA 95014. //, $150; He, $195.
Apple Writer II Preboot. Armstrong, Borgersen.
Allows you to run Apple Writer II in 80-column for-
mat with the Videoterm 80-column card. Videx, 1 105
N.W. Circle Blvd., Corvallis, OR 97330. $19.
Bank Street Writer. Kusmiak, Bank Street College
of Education. Designed for use by whole family.
Universal search and replace, word wrap are stan-
dard. U/lc without hardware. On-disk tutorial. Takes
advantage of memory, keyboard on lie, if you have
one . Broderbund , 1 7 Paul Dr . , San Rafael , C A 94903 .
$69.95. 2/83.
Format-II, Enhanced Version. Hardwick, Beck-
mann. Word processor supports all popular 80-
column cards, stores up to 50 pages of text on one disk.
Includes single keystroke editor, mailing list data-
base; displays text on-screen exactly as it will print
out. Compatible with hard disk drives. Kensington
Microware, 919 3rd Ave., New York, NY 10022.
$150.
HomeWord. TC Computer Systems. Icon-operated,
displays print-formatted document on screen, mixes
bold, underlined, or regular type. Tiny window
displays page format. Automatic outline formatting.
Sierra On-Line, Sierra On-Line Building, Coarse-
gold, CA 93614. $49.95. 12/83.
Magic Window II. Forty, 70 (in hi-res), or 80 col-
umns in this expanded version. With user-tailored,
fast menu, underlining, global search and replace. Be
version uses all 64K. Artsci, 5547 Satsuma Ave.,
North Hollywood, CA 91601. $149.95.
PFS:Write. Edwards, Crain, Leu. Interfaces with
other PFS programs. Includes search and replace,
moving and duplicating of text blocks, help screens.
Document appears on screen as it will look when
printed— including page breaks, underlining, boldfac-
ing. Software Publishing, 1901 Landings Dr., Moun-
tain View, CA 94043. $125. 12/83.
• Sensible Speller. Hartley. Spell-checking program
sports listable 85,000 words, extensible up to 1 10,000
words. Recognizes contractions, gives word counts,
word incidence, number of unique words. Clear
documentation and simplicity of operation. Works
with many word processors' files. Best of breed. Sen-
sible, 6619 Perham Dr., W. Bloomfield, MI 48033.
$125. 11/82.
Word Handler II. Elekman. Simple program with
straightforward documentation. Eighty -column print-
ing with the He. Silicon Valley Systems, 1625 El
Camino Real, #4, Belmont, CA 94002. $199. 11/82.
Word Juggler He. Gill. Sophisticated word processor
with search, replace, and block move. Printout can be
viewed on screen prior to printing; prints multiple
copies of selected pages. Now includes Lexicheck, a
fifty-thousand-word spelling checker. Quark, 2525
W. Evans Ave., #220, Denver, CO 80219. $189.
10/83.
Word Processing. Comprehensive, complex attempt
to bridge gap between microcomputer packages and
dedicated word processors. Intended for sophisticated
users. Good, but rough around the edges. State of the
Art, 3183-A Airway Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92626.
$395. 3/84.
WordStar. Screen-oriented, integrated word proc-
essing system in CP/M. Z-80. MicroPro, 33 San
Pablo Ave., San Rafael, CA 94903. $495.
Software For Pascal Users
Catalog your Pascal disks
• Creates master catalog
and saves it
• Flexible search w/ wildcards
Pascat™
> Automatical l y reads and
sorts all tiles
► Screen list or hard copy
$25
Terminal I/O unit a must for your Pascal library
• Device independent
• Field oriented with defaults
• Built m editor (msen. delete,
replace, dear, etc )
Screen Unit™
i Source & object code
• Input checking prevents
user error
• No licensing tee
$45
Keep tabs on your Important contacts
• Simple to use database
• Complete screen editing
• Flexible search w/ wildcards
• Hard copy in variable formats
Telephlle™
' Appro*. 200 116characler
records in each lile
• Includes Name, Address,
Phone. & Comments Fields
$20
COLOR GRAPHICS
IN 3D!
Create, edit, move, rotate,
translate.
Program amazing graphics
quickly and easily without
ever leaving BASIC.
Games, animation, CAD. . .
with Metalogic™ the possibi-
lities are limited only by your
imagination — not your soft-
ware.
Requires SubLogic s A2-3D2. Apple ]( Plus
& RAM Card (or Apple e); DOS 3 3
$75 o $,bo including complete SubLogic graphics package)
Apple H I' Plus and e, DOS 3 3 are trademarks of Apple
Computer Corp A2-3D2 is a trademark of SubLogic Corp
SPEED UP
YOUR APPLE ][ or ][ +
FOR LESS
We have the Number Nine
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• 3.6 times faster operation
• transparent execution
• 64K of high speed memory in-
cludes 1 6K "language card"
$600
Retail price
Our price .
$499
|/9)>1RTEMIS SYSTEMS, INC.
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TO ORDER OR FOR INFORMATION ON
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OKIDATA— Microline 92 & 93
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Oki 92 parallel List Price $599.95 $429.95
Oki 93 parallel List Price $995 00 $739.95
2K serial board List Price $120 00 $99.95
IBM PC ROMs for 92 List Price $59 95 $49.95
IBM PC ROMs for 93 List Price $5995 $49.95
Extra Ribbon (2) List Price $19.95 $9.95
Tractor for Oki 92 List Price $89.95 $54.95
MICROLINE 82, 83, & 84
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Oki 82 List Price was $499.00 Now on SALE for $349.95
Oki 83 w/FREE tractor List Price $775 00 $599.00
Oki 84 parallel List Price $1395.00 $1095.00
Oki 84 serial List Price $1495 00 $1195.00
2K serial board List Price $150 00 $120.00
Extrs Ribbons 82/92, 83/93 List Price $19 95 _ $9.95
Tractor for Oki 82 List Price $89.95 $54.95
Ribbons for 84 List Price $19 95 $9.95
IBM PC ROMs For 82 or 83 $39.95
IBM PC For 84 $89.95
Commodore Interface & Cable $59.95
COMREX CR-II
Best buy in letter quality printers NEW from Comrex'
full featured letter quality printer, FREE1 5K buffer,
logic seeking bi-directional printing, boldface
proportional spacing, double-strike, backspace
underline, true super-script and sub-script, drop-in
daisy wheel cartridge
CR-II parallel List Price 599.00 $495.00
CR-II serial List Price 644.00 $589.95
Tractor option List Price 120 00 $99.95
Cut sheet feeder List Price 259 00
Keyboard option List Price 199 00
$199.95
$179.95
16K RAM CARD For APPLE II
Expand your Apple II to 64K, use as language card,
full one year warranty Why spend S175 OO''
16K RAM Card List Price 99.00 . $49.95
Z CARD For APPLE— ALS
Two computers in one, 2-80 and 6502, more than
doubles the power and potential of your Apple,
includes Z-80 CPU card, CP/M 2 2 and complete
manual set. Pascal compatible. One year warranty
Z Card with CP/M 2.2 List Price 169.00 _ . $139.95
GRAPPLER PLUS— Orange Micro
The ultimate parallel printer graphics interface card
with many new features, now at a new low price'
Grappler Plus List Price 175 00 $119.95
BUFFERED GRAPPLER PLUS
Combines the flexibility of the Grappler • with the
convenience of the Bufferboard, all on a single board
Buffered Grappler List Price 245 00 $175.00
80 COLUMN CARD
80 column x 24 line video card for Apple II addressable
25th status line, normal/inverse or high/low video 128
ASCII characters, upper and lower case, 7x9 dot
matrix with true descenders, CP/M, Pascal and
Fortran compatible, 40/80 column selection from
keyboard 2 year warranty Best 80 column card1
Viewmax 80 List Price 219.00 $139.95
Visicalc/Easywriter Preboot List Price 30 00 _ $24.95
SMARTMODEM— Hayes
Sophisticated direct-connect auto-answer/auto-dial
modem, touch tone or pulse dialing RS232C interface
programmable
Smartmodem 1200 List Price $699.00 $475.00
Smartmodem 300 List Price $289 00 $199.00
Micromodem lie List Price $299.00 $239.95
ISOBAR
The ISOBAR looks like a standard multi-outlet power
strip, but contains surge suppression circuitry and
built-in noise filters, plus 15 amp circuit breaker
4 receptacle List Price $89 95 $59.95
8 receptacle List Price $99 95 $69.95
SUPER DISKETTE SPECIAL!
We bought out a major manufacturer's overstock
and we are passing the savings on to you! Single sided
double density, package of ten with FREE! plastic case
Box of 10 w/FREE! plastic box List Price $34 95 $18.95
CP/M 3.0 CARD For APPLE— ALS
The most powerful card available for your Apple!
6 MHz, Z-80B, additional 64K RAM, CP/M 3 0
plus. 100% CP/M 2 2 compatiblity. C Basic. CP/M
graphics. 300% faster than any other CP/M for Apple
ALS CP/M 3.0 card List Price 399 00 $299.00
FAN/POWER CENTER For APPLE
Cooling fan for your overheated Apple II. II* or lie,
also includes power switch and two switched outlets
with voltage protection circutry
Apple fan List Price 99.95 $59.95
APPLE 20 MEGABYTE
Winchester hard disk subsystem provides fast ultra-
reliable mass storage capabilities for any Apple II or lie
that has outgrown its floppy disk storage capacity. The
hard disk controller is built into the cabinet and can
handle up to two drives
19.4 Mb sbsysl List Price $2495.00 $1999.95
KOALA PAD— Koala Tech.
A touch sensitive pad that functions like a joystick or
mouse, allowing you to move the cursor around the
screen with the touch of a finger Complete with
software
DISK DRIVE For APPLE
Totally Apple compatible 143 360 bytes per drive on
DOS 3 3 full one year warranty, half-track
capability, reads all Apple software, plugs right into
Apple controller as second drive. DOS 3 3, 32 1
Pascal, & CP/M compatible
Standard Disk II size List Price 299 00 S199 95
Controller only List Price 99 00 _ $60 00
HALF-HEIGHT DRIVE For APPLE
Totally Apple compatible Works with all Apple
software and controllers Faster and quieter than most
other drives, yet only half the size1
Half-height drive List Price 249 00 5199.95
DUAL 8-inch DISK DRIVE SYSTEM
Up to 2 Megabytes for your Apple, two double density
8 inch slimline disk drives, cabinet, power supply,
cable, controller, and software Compatible with DOS
CP/M, Pascal and IBM 3740 formats
1 Megabyte Sub-system List Price 1995 00 $1195.00
2 Megabyte Sub-system List Price 2495 00 $1395.00
PRINTER CARD AND CABLE
For Apple; standard Centronics parallel interface for
Epson, Okidata C lloh Gemini, NEC. Comrex. etc
Includes printer cable and support graphics
Printer card & cable List Price 119 95 $49.95
MICROBUFFER
Practical Peripherals, Inc
Stand-alone Microbutfers
Parallel, 32K List Price 299 00
Parallel, 64K List Price 349 00
Serial, 32K List Price 299.00
Serial, 64K List Price 349.00
64K add-on board List Price 179 00
$229.95
$269.95
5229.95
5269.95
$149.00
Microbutfers for Apple II
Parallel, 16K List Price 259 95
Parallel, 32K List Price 299 95
Serial, 16K List Price 259 95 __.
Serial, 32K List Price 299.95 —
Microbutfers tor Epson Printers
Parallel, 16K List Price 159 95 _
Serial, 8K List Price 159 95
$189.95
$229.95
5189.95
5229.95
$129.95
$129.95
MICROFAZER— Quadram
The microfazer stand-alone printer buffers are
available in any configuration of serial or parallel
input, with serial or parallel output All are expandable
up to 64K of memory (about 30 pages of872 x 11 text);
the parallel-to-parallel version is expandable to 512K
copy and pause feature included
Para//e//Para//e/
8K List Price 169 00 _
32K List Price 225 00 .
128K List Price 445 00
Serial/Parallel
8K List Price 199 00 .
32K List Price 260 00
$139.95
$164.95
$269.95
5169.95
5199.95
Parallel/Serial
8K List Price 199 00 _
32K List Price 260.00
Serial/Serial
8K List Price 199 00 .
32K List Price 260.00
SOFTWARE
Multiplan Microsoft
5169.95
5199.95
5169.95
5199.95
Koala Pad List Price 124 95
$99.95
PFS: File Software Publishing _
Tax Preparer Howard Software .
dBase II Ashton-Tate
$189.00
_ $99.00
$199.00
$499.95
We accept cash, checks, credit cards, or purchase orders from qualified firms and institutions
Minimum prepaid order $15.00 California residents add 61/2% tax. Export customers outside the US or Canada please
add 10% to all prices Prices and availibility subject to change without notice. Shipping and handling charges
via UPS Ground 50C/lb. UPS Air $1 00/I b. minimum charge $3.00 Prices quoted are for pre-paid orders only
4907 West Rosecrans Avenue, Hawthorne, California 90250
Computer Products
TO ORDER CALL TOLL FREE: U.S.A 800-421-5500 • IN CALIFORNIA 800-262-1710 • LOS ANGELES 213-973-7707
198
THE
STATISTICS
SERIES"
FLEXIBLE • ACCURATE
EASY-TO-USE
Human Systems Dynamics programs are
used by leading universities and medical
centers. Any program that doesn't suit
your needs can be returned within 10
days for full refund. Designed for use
with Apple II 48K, 1 or 2 Disk Drives, 3.3
DOS, ROM Applesoft.
REGRESS II $150
Complete Multiple Regression Series
Stepwise, Simultaneous Solutions
Forward, Backward Solutions
Auto Power Polynomial Solutions
Data Smoothing, Transformations
Correlation and Covariance Matrices
Residuals Analysis, Partial Correlation
Research Data Base Management
Count, Search, Sort, Review/Edit
Add, Delete, Merge Files
Curve Fit, Hi-Res X-Y Plot
STATS PLUS $200
Complete General Statistics Package
Research Data Base Management
Count, Search, Sort, Review/Edit
Add, Delete, Merge Files
Compute Data Fields, Create Subfiles
Produce Hi-Res Bargraphs, Plots
1-5 Way Crosstabulation
Descriptive Statistics for All Fields
Chi-Square, Fisher Exact, Signed Ranks
Mann-Whitney, Kruskal-Wallis, Rank Sum
Friedman Anova by Ranks
10 Data Transformations
Frequency Distribution
Correlation Matrix, 2 Way Anova
r, Rho, Tau, Partial Correlation
3 Variable Regression, 3 t-Tests
ANOVA II $150
Complete Analysis of Variance Package
Analysis of Covariance, Randomized Designs
Repeated Measures, Split Plot Designs
1 to 5 Factors, 2 to 36 Levels Per Factor
Equal N or Unequal N, Anova Table
Descriptive Statistics, Marginal Means
Cell Sums of Squares, Data File Creation
Data Review/Edit, Data Transformations
File Combinations, All Interactions Tested
High Resolution Mean Plots, Bargraphs
HUMAN SYSTEMS DYNAMICS
To Order— Call
Toll Free (800) 451-3030
In California (818) 993-8536
or Write
HUMAN SYSTEMS DYNAMICS
9010 Reseda Blvd. Suite 222/Dept.S
Northridge, CA 91324
Dealer Inquiries Invited
Unrnn
Apple III
Access m. Communications program for timesharing
and standalone tasks; gives access to remote informa-
tion services, minis, and mainframes. Apple, 20525
Mariani Ave., Cupertino, CA 95014. $150.
Apple Business Basic. High-level structured pro-
gramming language. Apple, 20525 Mariani Ave.,
Cupertino, CA 95014. $125.
Apple Speller HI. Sensible Software. Spell-checking
program based on the Random House Dictionary rec-
ognizes 81,400 words including geographic terms,
names, abbreviations, figures. Gives word counts,
word incidence; works with most Apple III word
processors. Directly accessible from Apple Writer III,
version 2.0. Apple Computer, 20525 Mariani Ave.,
Cupertino, CA 95014. $175.
Apple HI Business Graphics. BPS. General-purpose
graphics program draws line graphs, bar graphs in
three formats, overlays, and pie charts in 16 colors.
Continuous or discrete data; curve-fitting capabil-
ities. Apple, 20525 Mariani Ave., Cupertino, CA
95014. $175.
Apple III Pascal. Program preparer with editor,
compiler, disassembler, linker, filer, system library.
Features cursor control, text modeling, formatting.
Apple, 20525 Mariani Ave., Cupertino, CA 95014.
$250.
Apple Writer HI. Lutus. Uses WPL (word process-
ing language) to automate text manipulation and
document creation. Adjusts print format during print-
ing; translates from typewriter shorthand to English
or other language and back again. Apple, 20525
Mariani Ave., Cupertino, CA 95014. $225.
BPI General Accounting. BPI Systems. Includes
General Ledger, Accounts Receivable, Accounts
Payable, and Payroll. Maintains customer,
employee, and vendor files; prints customer state-
ments, checks. Analyzes budget, compares historic
information, keeps independent financial records for
99 different departments and locations. Provides
password protection for each company, can be main-
tained on one disk. Requires 256K Apple ID, ProFile
hard disk. Apple Computer, 20525 Mariani Ave.,
Cupertino, CA 95014. $495.
Catalyst. Allows boot from hard disk; transfers all
programs to ProFile. Quark, 2525 W. Evans Ave.,
#220, Denver, CO 80219. $149.
Data Capture III. Moves data among mainframes,
micros, bulletin boards. Off-line editing, menu-
driven, copyable. Southeastern, 7743 Briarwood Dr.,
New Orleans, LA 70128. $90.
Hardisk Accounting Series, 2.0. General ledger, ac-
counts receivable, and accounts payable handle
32,776 customers or accounts; inventory features five
methods of evaluation. Also payroll, management
analysis, and mailing labels. Great Plains, 1701 S.W.
38th St., Fargo, ND 58102. $395 to $595 per module.
Inkwell. Wunderlich. Word processor prints
documents as they appear on-screen, simulates type-
writer or creates form letters from mailing list.
Horizontal scrolling allows text up to 155 characters
wide. Foxware Products, 2506 W. Midwest Dr.,
Taylorsville, UT 841 18. $185.
Keystroke. Handles large amounts of data. Can hold
up to 32,000 records on hard disk and provide instant
access. User-definable keys. Access two files at once
or join two files. Report generator saves up to eight
report formats. Easily merges with VisiCalc, Apple
Writer, and Word Juggler. Brock, Box 799, 8603
Pyott Rd., Crystal Lake, IL 60014. Database, $249.
Report generator, $149.
Lexicheck. Spelling checker that runs from inside
Word Juggler. Fifty-thousand- word dictionary; add
your own words. Eight-thousand-word legal dic-
tionary disk also available. Quark, 2525 W. Evans
Ave., #220, Denver, CO 80219. $145.
Mail List Manager. Generates, stores, sorts, edits,
and prints mailing list files. Apple, 20525 Mariani
MAY 1984
Ave., Cupertino, CA 95014. $150.
Micro/Terminal. Gives access to any in-house or
remote database; set up and log only once. Built-in
editor or edit off-line. Microcom, 1400-A Providence
Hwy., Norwood, MA 02062. $99.95.
PFS:File. Page. Form-oriented information-man-
agement system stores and retrieves up to 32,000 en-
tries. Software Publishing, 1901 Landings Dr.,
Mountain View, CA 94043. $175.
PFS:Graph. Chin, Hill. Works alone or interfaces
with PFS databases and VisiCalc files. Produces
bar, line, and pie charts, merging data from several
sources. Software Publishing, 1901 Landings Dr.,
Mountain View, CA 94043. $175.
PFS:Report. Page. Generates reports; sorts,
calculates, and manipulates data filed with PFS .File.
Software Publishing, 1901 Landings Dr., Mountain
View, CA 94043. $125.
Quick File HI. Personal index card or filing system
that generates reports, sorts. Fifteen fields; file as
long as disk allows; can be put on ProFile. Apple,
20525 Mariani Ave., Cupertino, CA 95014. $100.
Senior Analyst III. Business Solutions. Financial
spreadsheet develops models for budgets, planning,
profit and loss reports, cash flow projections, and
forecasts. Protects model from changes in anything
but a value. Links pages easily. Apple, 20525 Mariani
Ave., Cupertino, CA 95014. $350. 4/83.
State of the Art General Ledger and Business
Modules. Standalone interfaceable modules for 12
accounting periods. General Ledger can handle 470
accounts, 100 transactions before updating files.
Modules for budget and financial reporting, accounts
receivable/payable, inventory control, sales invoic-
ing, payroll, professional time and billing. State of the
Art, 3183A Airway Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92626.
General Ledger, Accounts Receivable, Accounts
Payable, Payroll, Inventory Control, $595; Sales In-
voicing, Budget and Financial Reporting, $495; Pro-
fessional Time and Billing, $795.
Stock Portfolio System. Tracks investments,
generates reports on current portfolio status, profit
and loss statements, individual security status, divi-
dend and interest income, expenses. Stores quotes for
historical recall, calculates return on investments
before and after tax, provides notice of stocks going
long-term, dividends coming due, options expiring.
Smith Micro Software, Box 604, Sunset Beach, CA
90742. $185.
is 3 E-Z Pieces. Lissner. Word processor, database,
and spreadsheet— each full-size, full-featured. Holds
several files on "desktop," saves report formats with
file. Proportionally spaced type. A winner. Haba
Systems, 15154 Stagg St., Van Nuys, CA 91405.
$295. 4/84.
VersaForm. Landau. State-of-the-art business-forms
processor. Does invoicing, purchasing orders, mail-
ing lists, client billing. Powerful, complex, worth get-
ting to know. Hard-disk-compatible. Applied Soft-
ware Technology, 14128 Capri Dr., Los Gatos, CA
95030. $495. 8/82.
VisiCalc: Advanced Version. Bricklin, Frankston/
Software Arts. For corporatewide modeling applica-
tions; develop sophisticated templates to be filled in
by novice users. On-screen help, IRR and calendar
functions, macro facility, variable column widths,
locked cell values, and hidden cell contents. Visi-
Corp, 2895 Zanker Rd., San Jose, CA 95134. $400.
VisiCalc HI. Software Arts, Bricklin, Frankston. Just
like it sounds; expanded memory, u/lc, 80 columns.
Four-way cursor movement. VisiCorp, 2895 Zanker
Rd., San Jose, CA 95134. $250.
VisiSchedule. Critical path PERT scheduler. Visi-
Corp, 2895 Zanker Rd., San Jose, CA 95134. $300.
Word Juggler. Gill. Word processor uses expanded
memory. Printout can be viewed on-screen prior to
printing; prints multiple copies of selected pages. In-
cludes Lexicheck, a fifty-thousand-word spell
checker. Quark, 2525 W. Evans Ave. , #220, Denver,
CO 80219. $295 . 72/82. Hi
TUrbo Charge Your Apple
With Buffering!
If you use a printer now...
BufferbGard
For Apples and Printers
The Bufferboard is the original add-on buffer
upgrade for existing interfaces. Easily installed,
its memory power can store up to 20 pages of
your Apple text data at a time. The Bufferboard
accepts print data as fast as your Apple can
send it. Then the Bufferboard trans-
mits to your printer, while
your computer
races on to its
next task.
The Bufferboard
uses an available
Apple slot and
"Docks" onto most popular interfaces, including
Epson, Apple and Orange Micro Grappler config-
urations. No external power supplies, no clumsy
boxes and cables. It's the easiest and most eco-
nomical way to add buffering.
^Orange micro
^ inc.
1400 N. LAKEVIEW AVE., ANAHEIM, CA 92807 U.S.A.
(714) 779-2772 TELEX: 183511CSMA
© Orange Micro, Inc., 1983
If you're just adding a printer...
ler +
The Buffered Grappler + is the most powerful
Apple printer interface you can buy. All the mem-
ory features of the Bufferboard have been
merged with the smartest interface available. . .
the Grappler + . The Buffered Grappler + now
gives you over 27 different built-in features. Buffer
expansion capability allows up to 20 full pages of
text memory. Exclusive new features give you
special support of lie 80 column text, screen
dumps for Epson graphic aspect ratios, and sup-
port of the new lie Double Hi Reso-
lution Graphics.
Other fea-
tures you'll
be using in no
time include
Dual HiRes
Graphics, Mixed
Mode Screen Dumps, Enhanced Graphics, text
formatting and much, much more. The New Buf-
fered Grappler + . So much interface power you'll
never need anything else.
Apple is a registered trademark of Apple Computer, Inc.
Epson is a registered trademark of Epson America, Inc.
rms?
If April 15 left you numbed out by numbers, you'll
want to know about HowardSoft's Tax Preparer. No
more last-minute rummaging through reams of
receipts; Tax Preparer keeps you and your records
organized all year long.
Instead of shoeboxes full of illegible bits of
paper, Tax Preparer puts an electronic form on the
screen of your IBM-PC compatible, TI Professional,
or Apple computer. Just fill in the blanks and let Tax Preparer do the rest. HowardSoft's
unique Translate feature lets you enter information as it accumulates. Then each year's
update applies the data to the new tax laws in a
matter of minutes.
With Unlimited Itemizing, you can enter as
many lines as you need on supplemental forms, and
make notes about the entries as you go. You can
plan your tax strategies while there's still time to
make them add up, and answer "what-if " questions
in just minutes.
Still, even the best laid plans sometimes
have loopholes. Then, Tax Preparer lets you make
last-minute changes easily, calculates quickly and
accurately, and — at the touch of a key— delivers
error-free printouts ready to sign and drop
in the mail.
Howard Soft Tax Preparer gives you more
features than the high-priced packages at a fraction
of the cost. Clear instructions, the most-used forms
and schedules, and inexpensive annual updates keep you current year after year after year.
So why not put Tax Preparer to work early? Visit the computer store nearest you
for a demonstration of the - — »
top-selling tax package in TTbl V T*TPfVa Y PF
the country. You'll see how I XOA1 l^pdl^l
many happy returns one \jV HOWZtfuSOlt*
program can give you. ^
Ml year long. ^^B3jSir~ The #1 selling tax software.
8008 Girard Avenue, Suite 310, La Jolia. CA 92037 • (619) 454-0121
MAY 1984
WH TALK ft,
201
Softalk Presents TTie Bestsellers
There's Life in the Old Boy Yet
You have to be a real Apple pioneer to remember Dakin5 or Pro-
gramma Software International. Both companies are now defunct.
Dakin5 even managed to go defunct twice.
Yet they were once among the biggest suppliers of Apple software.
Dakin5 got an award for selling $1 million worth of accounting software.
And Programma had more software titles than the original Apple had
chips. Now they're among the fallen.
The point is that the microcomputer industry moves so fast that yes-
terday's newcomers are today's leaders and tomorrow's stumblebums. A
position of leadership is no guarantee whatsoever, as the industry con-
tinues to attract creative entrepreneurs and capital investment from the
Fortune 500. It takes courageous, aggressive, and nimble management to
stay on top of things in such a dynamic marketplace.
Because the market is so competitive, it must be a real relief to the
folks at VisiCorp that they're able to paraphrase Mark Twain's classic
quip that "rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated."
The fates have not been altogether kind to the VisiFolk. As chroni-
cled here last month, they cast off their entertainment products, only to
see Zork become one of the bestselling pieces of software of all time.
They made a crafty buyout deal with Mitch Kapor to cut their royalty
costs on VisiTrend and VisiPlot, only to see sales of those products fall
off while Kapor used his spoils to develop 1-2-3, the hit software item of
1983 and 1984. Then they had a falling out with Software Arts, the de-
veloper of their flagship product, VisiCalc. During that struggle,
VisiCalc lost market share in every market in which they faced com-
petition.
Not exactly the kind of year Dan Fylstra and Terry Opdendyk had in
mind.
But it's not time to consign VisiCorp to the Dakin5 and Programma
graveyard yet. In March it came roaring back to reassert VisiCalc' s lead-
ership among spreadsheet products in the Apple II market.
VisiCalc: Advanced Version bested Multiplan and placed fourteenth
overall among Apple software. Vanilla VisiCalc placed twenty-fifth. To-
gether they would have placed eighth. There must be life left in the old
pioneer at that, because those are pretty impressive numbers to beat out
of a dead horse.
From an economic standpoint, VisiCorp execs must be sighing in re-
lief that at least one of their major markets has been reestablished. But
even as they strive to solidify their Apple II standing, they're facing a
new challenge on the significantly smaller Apple LTI front.
VisiCalc: Advanced Version has been alone in the Apple III for
months. The product was really tailored for machines like the Apple III
with lots of memory and has provided the primary raison d'etre for the
This Last
Month Month
Apple III
i.
2.
5.
6.
2.
1.
5.
2.
8. 10.
9. -
Apple Writer III, Paul Lutus, Apple Computer
Catalyst, Tim Gill, Quark
HI E-Z Pieces, Rupert Lissner, Haba Systems
VisiCalc: Advanced Version, Software Arts/Dan
Bricklin and Robert Frankston, VisiCorp
Quick File HI, Rupert Lissner, Apple Computer
Payroll III, State of the Art
Accounts Receivable HI, State of the Art
General Ledger III, George Shackelford, State of
the Art
Word Processor, State of the Art
General Ledger, BPI/John Moss and Ken Debower,
Apple Computer
machine. But it's in this unlikely arena that the next challenge has come
forth. It's called III E-Z Pieces.
Haba, publisher of /// E-Z Pieces, doesn't even sell against VisiCalc.
Their demo is aimed at wooing those enamored with 1-2-3 back into the
This Last
Month Month
Arcade 10
i.
3.
5.
2.
6.
8. 9.
9.
10.
4.
7.
Lode Runner, Doug Smith, Broderbund Software
Zaxxon, John Garcia, Datasoft
Choplifter, Dan Gorlin, Broderbund Software
Julius Erving and Larry Bird Go One-on-One, Eric
Hammond, Julius Erving, and Larry Bird,
Electronic Arts
Miner 2049er, Mike Livesay and Bill Hogue,
Micro Fun
Frogger, Olaf Lubeck, Sierra On-Line
Centipede, Atarisoft
Spare Change, Dan and Mike Zeller, Broderbund
Software
Pinball Construction Set, Bill Budge, Electronic Arts
Hard Hat Mack, Michael Abbot and Matthew
Alexander, Electronic Arts
FOR
12
95
each
we turn your computer into an
EDUCATIONAL
PLAYGROUND
Our programs are designed to enhance the thinking capacity of
youngsters and challenge the smartest adult. They are entertaining and
fun for the whole family.
★ HOME SWEET HOME: A game to develop logical
thinking and problem solving skill.
* FOREST FIRE: A game to sharpen strategy and
planning skill.
Both games are for age 6 to adult and require Apple 11+ or lie
with at least 32K and a disk drive to run.
Hundred of other products are also available at low. low price for
Apple™. Atari™, Commodore™, and IBM™ disks and tapes.
Please write or call for free catalogue (Dealers please specify):
Abbee Systems, Inc., 686 South Arroyo Parkway, Suite 218
Pasadena, CA 91105
Phone: (818) 285-3969
★ SPECIAL OFFER: Home Sweet Home and Forest Fire at
12"5 each or 20,s both, plus $2.50 handling and shipping. Califor-
nia residents please add 6.5% sales tax. Visa or Mastercard holders
please call.
•Js? Strictly for orders on this special 1 -800-227-3800
ext. 7041 (7 days. 24 hrs )
Is? For information or free catalogue, please call (818) 285-3969
OFFER EXPIRES ANYTIME WITHOUT ADVANCE NOTICE
Apple Alati, Commodore and IBM ar
Electronic Limited, and IBM respedic
reyistered trademarks ol Apple Compute!
. Inc . Commodore
our I LIINIC
SOFTI INF
SOFTI IMP
c;nPTl IMP
QntlTI IMC
.„ . „_ _ , .. _„ „, „,.,.,,, Jg^
The neon goes out on the old Softline logo and a bold, new title takes its place. It's the same brilliant, ir-
reverent, and challenging journal of computer gaming you'd expect from Softalk Publishing — now it's all in
the name. A magazine designed to put you on the path to a more recreational mode of existence with the
latest news and reviews, profiles, in-depth features, humor, tips, contests, and tutorials. Each issue is
crammed with all you need to stay sharp in the volatile realm of computer games. Buying them, playing
them, and making them— adventures, arcades, strategy, and role-playing fantasy.
P.O. Box 60
North Hollywood, CA 91603
$12 for one year (six issues) $20 for two years
Charge to my Visa Mastercard
Account #
.Expiration date .
Signature
Name.
Address
City
Computer .
.State _
-ZiP-
Please allow 8 weeks for delivery of first issue.
J
MAY 1984
mm] u
203
Apple camp. Pieces is the first solid attempt at integrated software in the
Apple eight-bit world in that it combines spreadsheet, database, and
word processing functions.
It won't be easy for anyone to shrug off a challenge from this compet-
itor. The author is Rupert Lissner. When previously spotted, he was
busy writing a thing called Quick File lie. That one has been the hottest
new business program in both Apple markets since its release. Now he's
got a new entry, and it seems to be taking off as well.
Apple II owners will get a chance to sample Lissner's magic as well.
Essentially the same product is being released by Apple for the II. It's
called AppleWorks and previewers are giving the product raves.
For VisiCorp, the big question is whether Apple owners will view
Lissner's latest efforts as truly integrated software packages that will
supplement a software library or whether they'll focus on the spreadsheet
capability. That's the salient point.
In the IBM Personal Computer market, nobody except Mitch Kapor
and a couple of stockbrokers making a market in Lotus Development
stock really consider the product as a piece of integrated software.
Everyone buys it because of its outstanding spreadsheet performance.
Word Processors 10
This Last
Month Month
Apple Writer lie, Paul Lutus, Apple Computer
PFSrWrite, Sam Edwards, Brad Crain, and
Ed Mitchell, Software Publishing Corporation
Bank Street Writer, Gene Kuzmiak and the Bank Street
College of Education, Broderbund Software
HomeWord, Ken Williams and Jeff Stephenson, Sierra
On-Line
Word Juggler lie, Tim Gill, Quark
Sensible Speller, Charles Hartley, Sensible Software
Apple Writer II Pre-Boot Disk, Kevin Armstrong and
Mark Borgerson, Videx
Word Handler, Leonard Elekman/Silcon Valley
Systems, Advanced Logic Systems
WordStar, MicroPro
Format-II, G.K. Beckmann and M.A.R. Hardwick,
Kensington Software
Home Education 10
1.
1
2.
2
3.
3
4.
4
5.
5
6.
6
7.
10
8.
8
9.
7
10.
9
This Last
Month Month
1.
2.
3.
4.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
4.
MasterType, Bruce Zweig, Scarborough Systems
Typing Tutor, Dick Ainsworth, Al Baker, and Image
Producers, Microsoft
Apple Logo, Logo Computer Systems, Apple Computer
Math Blaster, Janice Davidson and Richard Eckert,
Davidson and Associates
Early Games for Young Children, John Paulson,
Counterpoint Software
Meteor Multiplication, Jerry Chaffin, Bill Maxwell,
and Barbara Thompson, Developmental Learning
Materials
Computer SAT, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich
Algebra 1, EduWare, MSA
Early Games: Piece of Cake, Bob Eyestone,
Counterpoint Software
Alligator Mix, Jerry Chaffin, Bill Maxwell, and
Barbara Thompson, Developmental Learning Materials
$75* $99*
RIGHT FACE.
RIGHT PRICE.
At $75 and $99 respectively, PRlNTERFACK'"
and GRAPHlCARD'*" are the right parallel interface
products for your Apple II, II + , lie or Apple
compatible system.
But don't be fooled by those low prices.
High performance features and high reliability
make them the right choice for serious printing
requirements.
PRlNTERFACK, for example, offers 27 easy
commands that let you format text, send con-
trols to the printer. You can even dump
80-column text screen from your Apple He.
GRAPH iCARD gives you all that, plus graphics
capabilities for 37 of the most popular printers.
Eight additional commands permit a variety of
graphics, screen dumps, including side-by-side,
top-to-bottom, double size, inverse, emphasized,
rotated and mixed text and graphics. For Apple
II owners, the GRAPHlCARD will give 80-column
screen dumps from the Videx'M 80-column board.
By the way, if you buy PRlNTERFACK and
decide later that graphics would be nice, there's
an easy-to-install upgrade kit that'll do the trick
just fine.
Both cards clearly give you more for your
money. And both are warrantied for five years.
That's right, five years.
So drop into your local dealer and ask about
PRlNTERFACE and GRAPHICARD today. Two more
practical products from Practical Peripherals.
mmPRACTICAL
S PERIPHERALS
31245 La Baya Drive, Westlake Village, CA 91362
(818) 991-8200 • TWX 910-336-5431
'Suggested retail priee.
"Apple is a registered trademark of Apple Computer, Inc.
THE BEST REASON FOR HAVING A HOME COMPUTER.
Your children . . .to give them a
headstart with computers. That's
why we created the Early Games
series for them. We're educators as
well as computer specialists.
We create games that teach children
important shi I Is.
There are five programs in the Early
Games series Early Games for Young
Children is a set of nine entertaining"
activities for children 2lk to 6. They
can work with numbers and letters and
create colorful pictures. Matchmaker
uses shapes, sizes, directions and
colors to help children develop reading
readiness skills. Children ages 5 to
12 can learn to play melodies with Early
Games Music. Piece of Cake turns
math problems into, well, a piece of
cake. And Fraction Factory takes the
work out of fractions.
Early Games feature multiple
activities, easy to use picture menus,
and colorful graphics. The games
are fun, children love to play them! That's
why they learn from them.
And that's the best reason for having
a home computer
For the name of your nearest dealer call 800-328-1223
counterpoint software, inc.
4005 west sixty-fifth street • minneapolis, mn 55435
[612] 326-7BBB • [BOO] 32B-1223
MAY 1984
mrnn3
205
The database, memo writing, and graphing capabilities are incidental.
If Apple owners decide these new packages are essentially gussied-up
spreadsheets, VisiCalc may take another buffeting. But if the market
consensus is that they're general-purpose software packages, most ex-
pert users will also buy specific spreadsheet, database, and word proc-
essing software for performance. Then VisiCalc will be impacted less.
In general, the best news for software developers came out of the
educational area, where one aggressive entrepreneur and another well-
capitalized, long-established educational materials developer both made
their mark.
Biggest noise was made by Math Blaster, a product of Davidson and
Associates. You won't find that company in Fortune's latest listing of the
five hundred largest industrial companies. Nor will you see the name in
neon lights above some skyscraper. What Davidson and Associates rep-
resents is a small, tightly knit group of educators who have a solid under-
standing of educational values and of motivating children.
That understanding translated into the twenty-sixth bestselling pro-
gram in all of Appledom as well as the fourth bestselling educational
product.
Another relatively small newcomer that scored well in the education-
al market was Counterpoint Software. They've had success with Early
Games for Young Children in both the Apple and IBM markets. This
month they had a double Apple hit, with Early Games: Piece of Cake
Adventure 5
This Last
Month Month
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
1.
5.
2.
3.
Zork I, Infocom
Deadline, Infocom
Zork II, Infocom
Zork HI, Infocom
Death in the Caribbean, Philip and Bob Hess,
Micro Fun
Strategy 5
This Last
Month Month
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Flight Simulator II, Bruce Artwick, SubLogic
Sargon in, Dan and Kathe Spracklen, Hay den
Castle Wolfenstein, Silas Warner, Muse
Millionaire, Jim Zuber, Blue Chip Software
Bermuda Race, John Biddle and Gordon Mattox,
Howard W. Sams and Company
This Last
Month Month
3.
4.
5.
3.
2.
5.
4.
Fantasy 5
Wizardry, Andrew Greenberg and Robert Woodhead,
Sir-tech
Legacy of Llylgamyn, Andrew Greenberg and Robert
Woodhead, Sir-tech
Exodus: Ultima HI, Lord British, Origin Systems
Ultima II, Lord British, Sierra On-Line
Knight of Diamonds, Andrew Greenberg and Robert
Woodhead, Sir-tech
Apple ll/lle
nee Upon A
Time Only Advanced
Programmers Could
Achieve Machine
Language Speed.
But today anyone,
with just a basic
knowledge of pro-
gramming, can write
programs that run at
machine language
speed. It's easy with
MACROSOFT, a
new language that
works with the
MicroSPARC
Assembler.
Using MACRO-
SOFT, you write Applesoft-like programs which are con-
verted into machine language by the MicroSPARC
Assembler. Like magic. You get the benefits of speed
and efficiency without the hassle and hard work of
learning machine language!
Imagine, running your programs 10 times faster than
compiled Applesoft. That's 50 times faster than regular
Applesoft!
Create lightning-fast games and spectacular graphics.
Ideal for number crunching! For the more advanced
programmer there's the convenience of mixing assembly
language and MACROSOFT in the same program.
Now you don't have to be a magician to move up to
machine language-with MACROSOFT!
To order fill out the attached coupon or call 617-259-9710.
Author: Alan D. Fleeter
System Requirements: Applesoft compatibility and DOS 3.3
Apple is a registered trademark of Apple Computer, Inc.
Copyright © 1983 by MicroSPARC.
MicroSPARC Inc.
/ want machine language speed!
Here's my $99.95 for MACROSOFT
and the MicroSPARC Assembler.
□ Mastercard □ Visa □ Check, M. O.
(Mass. residents add 5% sales tax)
Name
Tel. »
Address
Gty
State Zip
Signature
Date
Charge Card #
Exp. Date
MicroSPARC Inc., 10 Lewis St.
Lincoln. MA 01733
CHANGES ITS NAME TO
(locj&i Waept&i PuJdttJuMXj,, 9*tc.
With my name on the software, you have my
personal guarantee of uncompromising quality,
ease of use, and reliability in both product and
support.
.4
It* L ^ )
The Personal Word Processing
System designed for the home
or classroom.
T^ "Books. /Sj^_
f^-flf- y/m* rW*i}* #i/MM)u^
^lewsh o£- Stye.
"Die. Am Aty* t
IDU clutch
XAJcLti^
With all the tools you need,
including a full-featured
word processor, a HiRes
typing tutor, classic guides
on writing style and
suggested formats for
letters, reports, outlines,
etc.!
ITS SIMPLY. . .
THE
WRITE
CHOICE!
Apple 11,11+, He
or He
See your local Apple
Dealer or contact us
for details
Current Correspondent
Owners please contact us
for update information
Apple Is a TM of Apple Computer Inc.
Home word is a TM of Sierra On-Une Inc.
Type Attack Is a TM of Slrius Software Inc.
Typing Tutor Is a TM of Microsoft Corporation.
Master Type Is a TM of Scarborough Systems Inc.
Bank Street Writer Is a TM of Broderbund Software.
MAY 1984
mum
207
joining the hit parade in ninth place.
From the other side of the fence came Developmental Learning
Materials, a Texas company with a long history of sound educational
products before it branched into software. For months, its products have
been significant sellers without breaking into the Education 10. March
This Last
Month Month
1. 1.
2.
4.
7.
3.
6.
10.
Business 10
PFS:File, John Page and D.D. Roberts, Software
Publishing Corporation
Quick File lie, Rupert Lissner, Apple Computer
PFSrReport, John Page, Software Publishing
Corporation
VisiCalc: Advanced Version, Software Arts/Dan
Bricklin and Robert Frankston, VisiCorp
Multiplan, Microsoft
VisiCalc, Software Arts/Dan Bricklin and Robert
Frankston, VisiCorp
BPI General Accounting, John Moss and Ken
Debower, Apple Computer
BPI General Ledger, John Moss and Ken Debower,
Apple Computer
PFSrGraph, Bessie Chin and Stephen Hill, Software
Publishing Corporation
General Ledger, George Shackelford, State of the Art
This Last
Month Month
Hobby 10
2.
6.
1.
4.
3.
9.
5.
10.
Zoom Grafix, Dav Holle, Phoenix Software
Silicon Salad, Bert Kersey and Mark Simonsen,
Beagle Bros
DOS Users Kit, The Professor
Fontrix, Steve Boker and Duke Houston, Data
Transforms
Global Program Line Editor, Neil Konzen,
Beagle Bros
DiskQuik, Harry Bruce and Gene Hite, Beagle Bros
Pronto DOS, Tom Weishaar, Beagle Bros
Beagle Basic, Mark Simonsen, Beagle Bros
DOS Boss, Bert Kersey and Jack Cassidy, Beagle Bros
Apple Mechanic, Bert Kersey, Beagle Bros
This Last
Month Month
Home
1.
1.
2.
2.
3.
4.
4.
3.
5.
10.
6.
4.
7.
7.
8.
6.
9.
9.
10.
Home Accountant, Bob Schoenburg, Larry Grodin, and
Steve Pollack, Continental Software
Dollars and Sense, Frank E. Mullin, Monogram
Tax Advantage, Henry Hilton and Harry Coons,
Continental Software
Music Construction Set, Will Harvey, Electronic Arts
Data Capture 4.0, George McClellan and David
Hughes, Southeastern Software
ASCII Express: The Professional, Bill Blue and Mark
Robbins, United Software Industries
Tax Preparer, James Howard, HowardSoft
Micro Cookbook, Brian E. Skiba, Virtual Combinatics
Crossword Magic, Steve and Larry Sherman, L&S
Computerware
Tax Manager, TASO, Micro Lab
Here's What
They're Saying...
Become an Expert on Your Apple*
Computer With These Essential
Books and Utilities From
QUTILIiy SOFTWARE
b> Jim S-tt*r
Beneath Apple DOS— covers all facets of the Disk Operating
System in the Apple 1 1 and the Apple //e. It discusses
the various versions of DOS, formatting, disk protection,
customizing DOS to your needs, and much more.
176 pages. $19.95
by Don Worth & Pieter Lechner
"So much information is crammed into this 160-page spiral-bound
manual that it could have been titled Everything You Ever Wanted to
Know About DOS (But Apple Didn't Tell You)."
—Softalk, July 1981
Understanding the Apple II— covers the Apple 1 1 hardware,
including chapters on RAM, ROM, the disk controller and
logic state sequencer, the 6502 microprocessor, video
generation, and more. Eleven appendices, a glossary, an
index, and schematics are included. 350 pages. $22.95
by Jim Sather
"Packed with vital information and fascinating insights, beautifully
and clearly written, Understanding the Apple II is as excellent as its
subject. What a bargain! It would be so at any price."
—Prof. Ben Helprin, San Jose State University, CA
And a Super Utility With Complete Documentation . . .
Bag of Tricks— is the best set of utilities available for your Apple
II or//e. The four programs are: TRAX, to examine tracks
and diskette formatting information; IN IT. to reformat one or
more tracks; ZAP, a programmable sector editor; and
FIXCAT, to repair damaged diskette catalogs. Diskette and
160 page manual. $39.95
by Don Worth & Pieter Lechner
"The true craftsman . . . is usually satisfied with nothing but a truly
professional tool. That's the category Bag of Tricks belongs in."
—Microcomputing, November 1983
OS
QUTiLrry softwtir€
Computer Book Division
21601 Marilla Street, Chatsworth, CA 91311
(818) 709-1721
'Apple is a trademark of Apple Computer, Inc.
Softalk Presents
changed all that as Meteor Multiplication scored sixth and Alligator Mix
landed the tenth position.
The educational marketplace is becoming a challenging meeting
ground for the computer entrepreneurs to test their strength against old-
line companies. In addition to DLM, Weekly Reader with its Stickybear
series, Reston with Multiploy, Control Data with the Plato series, IBM's
SRA subsidiary, Children's Television Workshop, and Harcourt Brace
Jovanovich with Computer SAT are active competitors. Among the
smaller software houses are such relative newcomers as EduWare, Spin-
naker, The Learning Company, Davidson and Associates, Counterpoint,
and Advanced Ideas. Right now there seems to be room for everyone,
but if a software shakeout comes, how it affects these companies will
be fascinating.
In the Apple III market, State of the Art accounting packages eclipsed
Great Plains Software entries, reversing a several-month trend.
The Word Processing 10 had an identical list with minor shuffling of
placement.
The biggest news other than VisiCalc's renewed competitiveness in
the Business 10 was the placement of two BPI packages, General Ledger
and General Accounting, on the list. State of the Art's General Ledger
was also a strong entry.
The Hobby 10 got a couple of new entrants and a new leader.
Phoenix's Zoom Grafix regained the number-one slot while newcomers
DOS Users Kit and Fontrix were rated third and fourth respectively. This
was a decided upset in that there remained only seven positions for
Beagle Bros to fill. Silicon Salad was their lead entry in March, placing
second. It's the first time in some months that Beagle Bros hasn't placed
eight or more programs in the Hobby 10.
The Home 10 continues to reflect the seasonal interest in tax prepara-
tion and planning packages. Tax Advantage from Continental moved up
to third place and Tax Preparer from HowardSoft maintained seventh.
Moving into the tenth slot was Tax Manager from Micro Lab.
Lode Runner and Zaxxon remained one -two among arcade games.
Frogger made a resurgence to sixth and Atarisoft's Centipede made sev-
enth; Atari's software strategy continues to show success in capitalizing
on their rights to popular coin-op games by translating them onto several
computers.
Infocom lost their death grip on the adventure market. They got the
first four places in March, but Micro Lab's Death in the Caribbean
grabbed fifth, nosing out Infocom's Enchanter. Last month, Infocom
made a clean sweep of the category.
The Wizardry epochs and the Ultima series juggled positions some,
but they kept a tight hold on all five positions in the Fantasy 5.
Interest in strategy games was light in March. The first four positions
remained stable, but sales were down relative to other software genres.
The newcomer was actually a several-month-old program, Bermuda
Race. ART
Apple-franchised retail stores representing approximately 5.27 percent of all
sales of Apple and Apple-related products volunteered to participate in the poll.
Respondents were contacted early in April to ascertain their sales for the
month of March.
The only criterion for inclusion on the list was the number of units sold— such
other criteria as quality of product, profitability to the computer store, and per-
sonal preferences of the individual respondents were not considered.
Respondents in April represented every geographical area of the continental
United States.
Results of the responses were tabulated using a formula that resulted in the in-
dex number to the left of the program name in the Top Thirty listing. The index
number is an arbitrary measure of the relative strength of the programs listed. In-
dex numbers are correlative only to the month in which they are printed; readers
cannot assume that an index rating of 50 in one month represents equivalent sales
to an index rating of 50 in another month.
Probability of statistical error is plus or minus 2.34 percent, which translates
roughly into the theoretical possibility of a change of 2.67 points, plus or minus,
in any index number.
Hie Bestsellers
The Top Thirty
This Last • &
Month Month Index
1.
1.
176
36
Apple Writer He, Paul Lutus, Apple Computer
2.
3.
98
77
MasterType, Bruce Zweig, Scarborough
Systems
3.
10.
92
85
Home Accountant, Bob Schoenburg, Larry
Grodin, and Steve Pollack, Continental Software
4.
4.
88
80
PFS:File, John Page and D.D. Roberts,
Software Publishing Corporation
5.
7.
84
44
PFS:Write, Sam Edwards, Brad Crain, and Ed
Mitchell, Software Publishing Corporation
6.
2.
73
84
Flight Simulator II, Bruce Artwick, SubLogic
7.
9.
66
37
Bank Street Writer, Gene Kuzmiak and the
Bank Street College of Education, Broderbund
Software
8.
8.
64
50
Quick File lie, Rupert Lissner, Apple
Computer
9.
5.
56
71
Lode Runner, Doug Smith, Broderbund
Software
10.
22.
48
29
Zork I, Infocom
11.
17.
47
67
Zaxxon, John Garcia, Datasoft
12.
13.
44
87
PFS:Report, John Page, Software Publishing
Corporation
13.
19.
43
62
Typing Tutor, Dick Ainsworth, Al Baker, and
Image Producers, Microsoft
14.
43
00
VisiCalc: Advanced Version, Software
Arts/Dan Bricklin and Robert Frankston,
VisiCorp
15.
11.
42
06
Multiplan, Microsoft
16.
16.
40
50
Wizardry, Andrew Greenberg and Robert
Woodhead, Sir-tech
17.
6.
34
89
Apple Logo, Logo Computer Systems, Apple
Computer
18.
28.
33
96
Choplifter, Dan Gorlin, Broderbund Software
19.
27.
33
34
Legacy of Llylgamyn, Andrew Greenberg and
Robert Woodhead, Sir-tech
20.
14.
28
66
HomeWord, Ken Williams and Jeff
Stephenson, Sierra On-Line
21.
17.
28
04
Dollars and Sense, Frank E. Mullin,
Monogram
22.
15.
25
86
Word Juggler lie, Tim Gill, Quark
23.
12.
24
92
Julius Erving and Larry Bird Go One-on-
One, Eric Hammond, Julius Erving, and Larry
Bird, Electronic Arts
24.
23
99
Miner 2049er, Mike Livesay and Bill Hogue,
Micro Fun
25.
22
12
VisiCalc, Software Arts/Dan Bricklin and
Robert Frankston, VisiCorp
26.
20
25
Math Blaster, Janice Davidson and Richard
Eckert, Davidson and Associates
27.
19
94
Frogger, Olaf Lubeck, Sierra On-Line
28.
20.
18
69
Sensible Speller, Charles Hartley, Sensible
Software
18
69
Tax Advantage, Henry Hilton and Harry
Coons, Continental Software
21.
18
69
Exodus: Ultima HI, Lord British, Origin
Systems JM
COMMITTED TO
EXCELLENCE:
OUR COMMITMENT IS YOUR GUARANTEE
OF SOFTWARE THAT CHALLENGES,
ENTERTAINS, AND INTRIGUES!
INTRODUCING:
WINDO- „
WIZARDRY
The WIZARDRY Phenomenon
Continues!
Now, better than ever, the Wizardry ad-
venture continues with LEGACY OF
LLYLGAMYN. Cast spells, work your
way through a 3-D maze and enjoy the
thrill of Wizardry with our newest soft-
ware innovation-WINDO-WIZARDRY™
Its Lisa-like windows help you play fast-
er and more efficiently than ever before!
All the information you'll ever need is at
your fingertips' command. SOFTALK's
Review Editor, Roe Adams, calls LOL
"...an excellent game! It's a land-
mark in graphics advancement."
LEGACY OF LLYLGAMYN is a new
world of excitement!
U
The Best Yet!
11
Margot Comstock Tommervik,
Editor, SOFTALK
SOFTWARE INC.
u
Apple is a registered trademark of Apple Computer. Inc. SIR-TECH SOFTWARE INC., 6 MAIN STREET, OGDENSBURG, NY 13669, (315) 393-6633
ALL SOFTWARE AVAILABLE FOR THE APPLE AT YOUR FAVORITE RETAILER.
Introducing
the first word processor
made especially for the home
VISUAL
MENU
•
1.
A POWERFUL WORD PROCESSOR
* helps you be the best writer you can be
* at a fraction of the price of most others
2.
EASY TO LEARN
* audio cassette guide to the basics
* instructions written in plain English
3.
EASY TO USE
* pictures illustrate your choices
TYPING AREA
Home Word makes writing easy.
Changing what you write is even
easier. Since the commands are
illustrated right on the screen, you
don't have to memorize any
complex codes.
Yet HomeWord's simplicity is
deceptive. Although easier to use,
it offers you the power of more
expensive word processors!
Yes, HomeWord is the best buy
for your money. . .and the best
money can buy! HomeWord is
available for only $69.95 on the
Apple II, 11 + , lie and Commodore
64. Coming soon on the Atari!
Features Include
add, move and erase
blocks of text
automatic outline indents
underline, boldface, upper
and lower case
reliable storage and
retrieval of all your files
automatic page numbering
print documents of
unlimited length
universal search and
replace
easy view of movement
through your files
ENTIRE PAGE
DISPLAY
)Sienna,
TM
TM designates a trademark of Sierra On-Line, Inc. © 1983 Sierra On-Line, Inc.
Sierra On-Line Building • Coarsegold. CA 93614 • (209) 683-6858